;
;
EVENTIM’s Arena for Milan will be Italy's largest indoor venue, accommodating up to 16,000 visitors. Managed by EVENTIM, it will debut at the Olympic Games, showcasing the men's ice hockey competition, before hosting a wide range of live entertainment and sports events.
Arup and David Chipperfield Architects (Berlin) are working closely with ticketing and live event producer CTS Eventim to create a sustainable multipurpose arena that enhances user experience.
With a characteristic elliptical outline, the arena will allow for different configurations, depending on the nature of the event. Sustainability is key to the venue design. Arup's sustainability and design specialists created a plan to minimise carbon emissions and resource consumption in this climate-resilient development. Our multidisciplinary specialists are also providing mechanical, electrical and public health engineering as well as specialists services for the project.
The arena forms part of the Milano Santa Giulia urban redevelopment, a sustainable regeneration scheme offering a mix of housing, offices, and commercial space across 120 hectares, just a few kilometres from Milan’s city centre.
Project Summary
16,000 spectators
83,500m2gross area
Reinterpreting the amphitheatre
Standing on a podium, the elliptical arena consists of three stacked shimmering rings connected by light, transparent glass bands. Its elliptical outline reinterprets the shape of the classic amphitheatre with materials like aluminium tubes and LED strips on the façade.
Inside, the arena features two covered tiers above the parterre level, served by four levels open to the public which host various hospitality services such as restaurants, lounges and skyboxes. The multi-storey car park that stems from the podium has been designed with a floor-to-floor height to allow a future reuse of the building as an office or residential block.
Digital tools enable flexible design
Digital tools integrated with BIM are driving the design development process, to enable the space to be flexible and adaptable and optimise the audience experiences. The design for the arena’s bowl is generated by a bespoke tool that optimises the view of every spectator in the building. Pedestrian and crowd simulation software have been used to ensure smooth and efficient movement of people inside the venue.
@Onirism
Arup’s team explored a complete range of design options for the arena through parametric design to build a unified solution that reconciles competing demands. Each element of the building’s design, including the façade, has been generated by parametric modelling tools, allowing us to reduce the project’s carbon footprint by scaling down the amount of material used during construction. While sustainability was a key driver for the client, cost and constructability were also factors that parametric design helped us to address.
Rainer Appel, Executive Vice President at CTS EVENTIM, said: "CTS EVENTIM's arena for Milan will be Italy's largest and most innovative indoor arena for live entertainment and sports. The combined expertise and dedication of Arup and Sir David Chipperfield have played a pivotal role in shaping this iconic venue. Together, we've achieved new heights in design and innovation, setting new standards for comparable projects."
Circular and resilient by design
With sustainability as a key driver, the arena presents a unique opportunity to showcase cutting-edge innovation, maximise spectator comfort and minimise operational energy costs. Aligned with circular economy principles, the arena’s design looks not only at carbon content, but also at the entire lifecycle of the building.
Our approach set maximum embodied carbon target and prioritised modular and off-site components to reduce waste. The project’s construction methodology promoted the use of reused and recycled materials, with natural and regenerative materials implemented for internal finishings such as acoustic insulation.
Once completed, the building will be one of the biggest single development producer of renewable energy in Milan, generating around 1 MW of photovoltaic energy. The photovoltaic panels on the arena’s roof will allow for energy to be generated locally. Within the arena, heat pumps will rely on renewable exchange with external air to reduce electrical consumption. In addition, heat recovery from the arena’s chilling system reduces further demand. Inside the arena, LED lighting is used to minimise energy usage. For the arena’s audience, the venue will provide electrical vehicle charging points, in compliance with local codes.
Within the arena, an adaptive energy design concept will allow for heating and cooling to be controlled. This will be vital during sports events, such as ice hockey, where the temperature of the ice will need to be maintained and fog managed.
Timely delivery
With a project of this scale, it is vital to connect all aspects of the programme to ensure the client’s needs are met on time. With the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics games on the horizon, assisting the client to navigate stakeholder engagement played a major role in achieving goals and milestones on time such as the delivery of the arena. The key to this was our multidisciplinary approach, resulting in a truly integrated design for a flexible multipurpose arena.
Related
Projects
