Euroborg Stadium

This massive stadium is situated within a strategic location between Groningen's city center and its expanding peripheral areas. It is linked to the city and the whole of the Netherlands by an intercity railway station that efficiently ensures its continual accessibility. Outfitted with a hybrid program, the stadium incorporates numerous theaters, shops, offices, restaurants, a conference center, catering facilities, a hotel, and two apartment towers, all of which were a catalyst for the development of a new neighborhood that surrounds the stadium. Due to its hybrid programming, the area in which the stadium is situated is constantly alive with life; in this way, the area is animated throughout the entire year, rather than only occupied during the hours in which concerts or sports events are scheduled. 

The stadium seats 22.500 spectators; it is able to be entered from any direction through an elevated public level, which is located at the mid-point of its section. In this way–and because the stadium is partially sunken into its site–upon entry, spectators are ushered downward toward their observatory position, which introduces a domestic atmosphere to the stadium; it is the 'living room' of Groningen. Surrounded by an expansive public square, its perimeter is wrapped within several layers of hybrid program–which shields all parking garages–and its textured concrete exterior is punctuated with oversized circular windows. The stadium's hybrid spaces, and the interactions and interrelationships between them, allow this neighborhood of the city to function as a social condenser or attractor; it encourages and enables metropolitan activities at every hour of each day.

The stadium is part of a decades long effort to transform the city of Groningen into a regional hub for the province of Groningen. The stadium is tied south of the city center an is easily accessed by public transport from the center. The main idea that shaped the project was not only the stadium itself, but the life that happens around it, during the stadium’s ‘off-time’; that is, when the stadium is not in use. In order to accommodate and stimulate the burn life in the new district of Groningen, it was decided to include housing areas, as well as hotels, restaurants, and shops that are essential for daily life. Also present is a school, offices, and numerous grocery stores. Appropriately, two housing towers were master planned as being sited next to the stadium, affording stadium-side residents a one of a kind view over the field when the home team plays. 

There is also, for instance, amongst other amenities, a move theater housing within the ring that surrounds the same stadium–they are thus under the same roof. The stadium, and this ‘ring’ of secondary programming within it, finds its inspiration from the Italian city of Lucca. The Piazza Anfiteatro in Lucca is an oval shaped square in the center of that city. It is bound by housing with numerous floors that overlook city life below; it is an organizing node and meeting place for residents, for instance for markets or festivals. Like the square in Lucca, the place has dictated the design, and just like Lucca, the stadium is also bound by a ‘second ring ’, or, a sort-of programming possibilities. As of 2020, the area around the stadium and the ‘Groningen Europapark’ is still be expanded and developed.

Location
Boumaboulevard 41
9723 ZS Groningen
the Netherlands

Program
Sport

Size
62.000 m²

Date of design
1998-2001

Date of completion
2006

Project team
Wiel Arets, Bettina Kraus, Barend Christmas, Johannes Kappler

Collaborators
Pedro Anão, Jacques van Eyck, William Fung, Jörg Lüthke, Paul Tesser, Andrea Tontsch, Satoru Umehara, Sadamu Shirafuji, Sandra Feick, Vanessa Keith, Jaap Kraayenhof, Kees Lemmens, Susana Sala

Client
Euroborg NV, Gemeente Groningen, G4 Developers (Ballast Nedam Ontwikkelingsmaatschappij BV, BAM Vastgoed BV, and Volker Wessels Vastgoed BV)

Consultants
BAM Advies & Engineering BV, DGMR BV, Tebodin Consultants & Engineers BV, T&H Adviesbureau Installatietechniek BV, Infra Consult+Engineering BV, Bouwcombinatie Euroborg v.o.f, Ballast Nedam Bouw, BAM Utiliteitsbouw BV, Rottinghuis BV