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The Chinese National Stadium was the 2008 Olympic Games’ most striking structure, recognised all over the world. Arup’s sports architects established the design for the seating bowl first, with the outer façade wrapping around it. The design ensures that all spectators are as close as possible to the action and have clear sight lines.

From lead architecture to specialist operational advisory insights, we offer the full range of multidisciplinary skills needed to deliver iconic venues, well-loved by fans and communities alike.

Our work ranges from specialist seating bowl and sports venue architecture, through numerous specialist engineering disciplines to the design of the field of play itself. Arup have worked to design and deliver sports venues since our first stadium project in 1963, with a dedicated Sports design team established in 2000. 

Since then, our team has been responsible for design and delivery of over 250 sports buildings, projects ranging from community facilities through to stadiums and arenas that host the world’s most high profile sporting events, with a combined construction value of over $20bn.

Working as creative partners, we work with venue owners, organising committees, architects, contractors and event operators to navigate the complex requirements that shape a successful event venue.