ARCHITECTURE
VISION4VENUE
Florian Hupfer, managing partner
What are you
working on at
the moment?
We are still
working on the
Würzburg
Arena in
Germany,
which is an
8,000-capacity
venue for basketball
and concerts. We are
working not only as architects, but
also as consultants and a project
manager for the client. In addition,
we are also in the fi nal negotiation
stage for the arena operation itself.
What has been the most
interesting or challenging
aspect of this project?
What makes this interesting is the
complexity of the plot of land,
which is not very big for an arena
like this. It has to handle a lot of
elements such as public
transportation and cars on a small
site. It also presents challenges in
regard to the operators as they all
are bringing their input to the
arena. While this is very valuable
to the project it’s also very diffi cult
to get all these ideas incorporated.
Are you able to talk about any
future projects?
We have our arena project in
Lagos, Nigeria, which is being
developed by a local private real
estate company. It is planning to
build a 15,000-capacity sport and
concert arena, that also includes a
hotel and a smaller concert venue
with about 2,000 seats, a shopping
mall and cinema. It is a very
complex project.
How much more work have
you done with esports arenas
and what makes an ideal
venue design for them?
We have had quite a few talks
about these projects but nothing
concrete is planned yet, but you
never know what might happen in
the next few months. I think
esports will not require big
arenas, rather smaller auditoriums
with 2,000-4,000 seats.
I believe one design element
they need to have is a very close
and intimate seating confi guration.
While the venue itself needs to be
multi-functional and flexible with
the ability to adapt in the future,
as well as having plenty of
technical equipment.
Currently, however, my opinion
is that esports events will be
hosted at existing multi-functional
arenas. Most of these venues can
be adapted to host such events.
What design trends are you
seeing on the rise?
I have noticed that the façade and
appearance of the building has
become more of a focus with a
need for them to be made to look
Würzburg Arena, Germany
facilitate this trend, with lighter
and more energy-saving materials
to create such exteriors. Our
design philosophy, however, has
always been to think from the
inside to the outside in terms of
functionality and revenue
generating streams, but it really
depends on the client on how
much we can spend on the façade.
What we have noticed in the last
few years working in different
countries is that we’re seeing
clients are not willing to spend
much more for engineering
consultancy and design. This
means construction has more
value than the platework.
Are fans using stadia
differently these days and
how are venues adapting
to meet their needs?
In the city, the stadium is offering
more chance for it to become part
of the daily lives of the community
as well as the fans. The stadium is
introducing more to appeal for
fans to come earlier and enjoy its
amenities, and also to keep them
around the arena after the game. ■
iconic. Owners want to build a
monument. Technologies are
developing to
28 www.stadia-magazine.com March 2020
/www.stadia-magazine.com
