Sport is all about passion, inspiration and striving for excellence. Arup understands that those who commission and run sporting venues share these values.
Working at the leading edge of venue design, Arup’s teams deliver sustainable, innovative spaces that enable athletes to give their best performance.
Clients benefit from Arup’s specialist design advice and consultancy on all aspects of new and existing venues including masterplanning, acoustics, lighting design, security, fire and environmental performance.
The firm has an impressive record of designing sports buildings – including undercover arenas such as Italy’s Torino Palasport Olimpico, stadiums like Donbass Arena in Ukraine, velodromes from Germany to South Africa and swimming pools including the Kazan Aquatics Centre and Chinese National Aquatics Center (Water Cube).
A lasting legacy
Sites for major sporting events are increasingly seen in the context of city regeneration, so designing them for legacy use is essential. A venue can bring investment in jobs, housing and transport.
Arup’s sports venue projects are rarely just about building design. The firm may also provide site decontamination and preparation including energy consulting, infrastructure, information and communications technology, waste management, drainage and other technical systems that enable the construction of world-class venues.
Creative and functional
A landmark sports building is the product of a creative partnership. Many, such as Melbourne's AAMI Park and Munich’s Allianz Arena, feature innovative cladding materials like ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) and/or beautiful sculptural forms.
More than just striking sports architecture, these highly-functional buildings accommodate the complex and varied needs of competitors, spectators, organisers and media.
Arup teams are especially proud when the firm’s innovative buildings are used for major tournaments. The Allianz Arena hosted the opening ceremony of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
In 2008 the Chinese National Aquatics Center (Water Cube) and Beijing National Stadium (Bird’s Nest) starred alongside record breakers at the Olympics, taking away medals of their own in the form of the MacRobert award and the RIBA Lubetkin prize respectively.
Whatever the sport, Arup’s winning approach delivers the finest facilities to host the world’s most inspirational sporting events.