New Aarhus Stadium - Arena of the Forest

Titled the “Arena of the Forest”, the New Aarhus Stadium is inspired by the surrounding Marselisborg Forest and the football club legacy, aiming to become a new catalyst for fans and the local community, a new identity for the club, and a new landmark on the national and international football fraternity. The Arena of the Forest is designed with a Nordic profile and fits into the environment. The stadium design is characterized by white pillars inspired by the profile of nearby trees – they stretch upwards, lean out and cover the surroundings of the stadium while also forming a giant crown that embraces the whole stadium. Bringing fans very close to the field of play, the design creates an intense match-day atmosphere for players and supporters. “The new Aarhus Stadium is inspired by its natural forest context and the club’s legacy. Providing a new public spaces for use 365 days a year, the stadium will be a new landmark for the city that incorporates the highest standards of environmental, economic, and social sustainability within in every aspect of its design and construction.” Gianluca Racana, Director, Zaha Hadid Architects The design concept is informed by the vertical rhythm of the surrounding trees that reach up to 47 meters in height. The design envisions the new stadium as an extension of the forest with its verticality continued in the stadium’s public colonnades and the timber ribs of its façade. Pillars, wood slats and a transparent, extended roof on the stadium creates a connection to the forest and give a sense of grandeur. The roof of the stadium is designed to maximize weather protection and increase comfort levels in the adjacent external plazas as well as the internal concourses, defining a sheltered 360-degree public circulation route that is independent from the events within the stadium; creating welcoming new public spaces for a wide variety of civic, recreational and cultural uses by the local community and visitors to the park. At the new Aarhus Stadium, it is the performance of the materials that has been decisive for design and material selection. For example, we use steel instead of wood for the rafter constructions, as it contributes to minimize material consumption and achieve the large overhangs For the columns, we use concrete instead of steel because we can shape the column in concrete and achieve a robust surface without maintenance. Finally for the façade screen, we use wood because with the material we set a minimum CO2 footprint and visually achieve an architectural expression that is material, warm and context-related. In addition, work has been done to reduce the climate impact of the new stadium i.e. when investigating the possibilities for reusing existing structures. Life cycle assessment (LCA) have been an integral part of the design process and we have achieved a project that complies with the upcoming requirements for CO2 according to the building regulations.