Arup's Milan office, supported by ArupSport, has been appointed to design a new stadium in the city of Bergamo in Lombardy, Northern Italy.

Working with the architect Alberto Cecchetto, Arup will design the 25,000-seat facility which will sit at the heart of a major new mixed-use development or “Sport Park” by the Percassi-Cividini Group on the outskirts of the historic city which lies north-east of Milan. The new development is intended to make the City a major tourist attraction in the region situated as it is so close to Milan. Along with the stadium, other features of the 52,000m2 Sport Park include gyms, restaurants and retail outlets.

Arup presented its preliminary designs for the stadium to the Town Council at the end of May. The basic design of the stadium incorporates a distinctive sunken bowl into the ground, with an elegant and expressed curved roof structure covering the seating area. Following approval of these preliminary designs, Arup will produce a more detailed design scheme in the coming months. The stadium has been designed to the latest international standards and includes extensive entertaining facilities. Among many innovative features is the ability for the stadium to be adapted in the future to remove the moat between the pitch and the fans, currently a required feature of Italian football stadia, but becoming less common internationally.

Gabriele Del Mese, Director of Arup’s Milan office, commented: “We are delighted to be appointed to design the new stadium in Bergamo. The project looks set to be an exciting and challenging one, but we feel confident of producing an attractive stadium that will serve the needs of the city of Bergamo’s sporting fans for years to come. Arup Milan is currently working on a number of high profile projects in Italy, including most notably the Turin Hockey Stadium for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games and the new high speed station for Florence. We are very pleased to have another opportunity to demonstrate our expertise in sport design.”

Spanish success

Arup’s success in stadium design continues with Arup’s Madrid office, supported by ArupSport, forming part of the winning design team chosen to design the new stadium for Espanyol Football Club in Barcelona. Arup, led by Tudor Salusbury, Director of the Madrid office, is supporting the team led by the architects Reid Fenwick Asociados based in Madrid and Gasulla Associats based in Barcelona.

The football stadium, which will form part of a large mixed-use development, will be located in the municipal district of Cornellá de Llobregat, west of Barcelona, will cover 46,000 m2 and will initially seat 35,000, with future capacity for 42,000 spectators. The stadium is expected to be finished in the fall of 2005.

Source: Arup.com