Following numerous interventions for its expansion and modernisation, the current remodelling of the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium by L35 Architects in collaboration with gmp Arkitecten and Ribas & Ribas Arquitectos has been recognised as the best stadium in the world by the World Football Summit (WFS), the main platform for the global football industry, due to its innovative features and “ambitious vision”.

With the aim of providing the stadium with a flexible and changing façade that reflects the values ​​of sport, the stadium represents a new icon for the city while readjusting its passivity to the scale of the city, understood as the redefinition of a symbol and something more than a stadium.

L35 Architects in colaboration with gmp Arkitecten y Ribas & Ribas Arquitectos, proposes to give the stadium, through this remodelling, a new public access by creating under the great flight of the new stadium lobby towards the Paseo de la Castellana, an iconic presence that architecturally resolves the absence of a previous main entrance, bringing the stadium closer to the city.

The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium is reaching the final phase of its remodelling, with which it aims to contribute to ordering the environment by providing urban values ​​and reflecting the values ​​of sport through a flexible envelope system that reflects light in a changing way, reflecting the activity of the city.

Estadio Santiago Bernabéu por L35 Architects. Fotografía por Miguel de Guzmán.

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium by L35 Architects, gmp Arkitecten and Ribas & Ribas Arquitectos. Photograph by Miguel de Guzmán.

Redefining a symbol: The Bernabéu is much more than a stadium
After numerous renovations for its expansion and modernization, the current remodeling of the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium began in 2012, when the team formed by L35 Architects, in collaboration with GMP and Ribas & Ribas, entered the competition called by Real Madrid against other major international studios, a competition that was awarded to the team in 2014.

"Our challenge as architects has been to remodel a monumental building and achieve a memorable image for the club and the city, solving all the functional challenges and at the same time contributing to ordering the environment by providing quality and urban values."

Tristán López - Chicheri, CEO-senior partner of L35 Architects.

One of the objectives of the proposal was to give the stadium a new public access, since it had 57 doors, but no entrance. The design of the new large stadium lobby under the large overhang towards Paseo de la Castellana architecturally resolves the absence of a main entrance prior to the remodelling project, giving the stadium a new iconic presence.

On the east side, facing the Plaza de los Sagrados Corazones, is the other main entrance to the stadium. This space, previously built, approaches the city, creating a slightly depressed plaza that allows for the creation of a new façade. It is one level below the stadium and provides public access to the Real Madrid museum and commercial areas.

Estadio Santiago Bernabéu por L35 Architects. Fotografía por Miguel de Guzmán.
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium by L35 Architects, gmp Arkitecten and Ribas & Ribas Arquitectos. Photograph by Miguel de Guzmán.

By lowering the level of the plaza, the underground vehicle entrances were solved by means of mounds that have a triple function: to conceal the access ramps, hide the ventilation chimneys among the vegetation and, finally, to generate a green wall that encompasses the central free space of the plaza, transforming it into a new public space protected from traffic.

A new permeable and changing façade
The main objective of the proposal was to provide the stadium with a flexible and changing façade that reflected the values ​​of sport: a dynamic façade. In such a way that as the passerby walks around it, it changes and generates covered areas that change in scale. A flexible envelope system that could adapt to all the variables that would be integrated into the project as it progressed. In addition, from the first sketches for the remodelling concept, the intention was to readjust the massiveness of the building to the scale of the city. We had to respond to the request from Real Madrid that required creating a memorable image for the Bernabéu, a new icon.

"The asymmetrical and fluid geometry of the new façade was an early and well-considered decision. On the verge of presenting a more canonical concept, we continued to think about it so that it would meet the objectives we wanted to achieve. Together with Ernesto Klingenberg we drew several sketches, looking for an envelope that had a recognisable identity and that was flexible to accommodate both the existing stadium and future uses. One of these spontaneous sketches was the genesis of the idea of ​​the New Santiago Bernabéu."

The unique geometry of the new envelope is not accidental. Its curved surfaces reflect the light in a changing manner; its soft edges express dynamism. In addition, this form adapts to the needs of the new program, growing or shrinking without losing its unity or character.

Estadio Santiago Bernabéu por L35 Architects. Fotografía por Miguel de Guzmán.
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium by L35 Architects, gmp Arkitecten and Ribas & Ribas Arquitectos. Photograph by Miguel de Guzmán.

The envelope is not conceived as a hermetic armor, but as a light and permeable steel skin, which through the parameterization of its slats opens gaps that allow the entry of light and air, necessary to guarantee the natural ventilation required for the operation of the exterior galleries. This semi-open condition allows an interior to be hinted at, which manifests itself during the nights when the stadium is lit. During the rest of the time, the stadium seeks to blend in with its surroundings, treating the façade as a subtle mirror that captures the changing activity of the city. The noble reflective quality of steel is sought, which, with a specific surface treatment, causes that characteristic warm and diffuse reflection on the façade, together with the curvature and sinuosity of the forms.

By covering the stands, it is possible to improve comfort, protect spectators from rain and sun and improve the overall experience. In addition, the cover has also been designed to be a support on which to hang multiple elements that improve the sporting experience: screens, video scoreboards, lighting, projectors and security cameras. In addition, having a cover that can be completely closed allows creating a controlled environment regardless of weather conditions.

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Project team
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Project Coordinator.- Alejandro Lorca.
Design Managing Partners.- Ernesto Klingenberg, Alejandro Barca.
Team Leaders.- Raquel Perez Diego Blasco, Guillermo Guso.
CEO-senior partner.- Tristán López-Chicheri.
Concha Salguero, Hendrik Hiddemann, Hugo Martinez, Rafael Ortiz de Solorzano, Diego Fierro, Marta Gomez, Laura Fernandez, Marta Canto, Andres Rebuelta, Gerardo Martinez, Borja Fernandez-Del Vallado, Ana Helena Fernandes, Stefano Melgrati, Jorge Romera, Bosco Pita, Pablo Garcia, Paulo Romero, Sergio Sanz, Maria Perez, Almudena Blanco, Marco Silva, Roberto Raez, Ivan Lopez-Chicheri, Yanis Amasri.

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Collaborators
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Lighting Consultants.- Lichtvision.
Façade Consultants.- ARUP.
Façade Consultants.- INASUS.
BIM consultants.- Modelical.
Construction Management.- VADA10.
Structural Engineering.- LAC Consultores de Estructuras.
Landscape architect.- Porras La Casta arquitectos.
Project Manager.- Bovis.
Building Surveyor.- AYESA.
Engineering.- INES Ingenieros (Structural concept and design); SBP (Roof structural concept and design).
MEP Engineering.- Aguilera Ingeniería.

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Client
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Real Madrid.

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Builder
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FCC.

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Area
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Built area after remodeling: 175,000 sqm.

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Dates
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Competition.- 2012.
Award.- 2014.
Expected completion date.- 2024.

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Location
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Madrid, Spain.

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Photography
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Imagen Subliminal (Miguel de Guzmán + Rocío R. Rivas), Cesar Cubas Knott.

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L35 Architects is an architecture, urban planning and design studio with offices in Barcelona, ​​Madrid, Paris, Milan, Miami, Mexico, Bogotá, Santiago, Istanbul and Abu Dhabi. Formed by 25 partners and more than 200 professionals, since its founding in 1967 the studio has specialized in the areas of residential, offices, hotels, commercial, stadiums, mixed uses and urban developments.

Of particular relevance is its experience in large-scale projects and complex mixed-use programs. With projects in 40 countries, L35 Architects addresses any architectural challenge based on collective reflection with its clients and collaborators, pursuing excellence in design.

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gmp Architekten. gmp Architekten von Gerkan, Marg und Partner (abbreviated gmp Architeckten or gmp) is a German Architecture practice based in Hamburg and with offices in Asia and other regions. It was founded in 1965 by the architects Meinhard von Gerkan and Volkwin Marg. In the first two years of the Meinhard von Gerkan and Marg Volkwin association, they won eight architectural competitions already, including the design for the Berlin Tegel Airport.

Meinhard von Gerkan. Born in Riga, Latvia in 1935, Meinhard von Gerkan is an architect at the Technical University of Braunschweig, where he graduated in 1964. The following year, he teamed up with Volkwin Marg, a partnership which still exists today under the name "von Gerkan, Marg und Partner "(GMP), and with a base in Hamburg.

In 1974 Gerkan was appointed to a professorship at the Technical University of Braunschweig, where he directed 2002 the Institute of Architectural Design (Department of Architecture and Design A).
Meinhard von Gerkan is also a member of the Free Academy of Arts Hamburg.

Marg Volkwin. Marg Volkwin was born in 1936 in Königsberg, East Prussia. From 1958 to 1964 he studied Architecture in Berlin at the Technical University of Braunschweig, where he graduated in 1965, the year in which he also founded the architectural firm Gerkan, Marg and Partners (GMP) together with Meinhard von Gerkan.

In 1972 he was appointed as a member of the Free Academy of Arts Hamburg and in 1974, a member of the German Academy for Urban and Regional Planning. From 1975 to 1983 he was the first vice president, then (1979) President of the Federal German Architects (BDA). In 1986 he received a professorship at the RWTH Aachen for city planning and teaching work.

Since 2007 Marg is director of the Academy of Structures (AAC), which he founded along with von Gerkan through the GMP Foundation. Volkwin Marg is a member of the advisory board of the Federal Cultural Foundation Construction.

In 2009 he was awarded the Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany ausgezeichnet. In 2010 he became a member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin.

In 2012 he received an honorary doctorate in the Department of Architecture, awarded by the Academic Council of the University of Hamburg HafenCity.

Together, Meinhard von Gerkan and Marg Volkwin have won more than 490 awards in national and international contests, among which more than 290 are first prizes.

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Ribas & Ribas Arquitectos is an architectural firm based in Barcelona with 58 years of experience in the area of ​​Architecture and Urbanism. Founded in Barcelona almost six decades ago by Josep Ribas González and now run by the second and third generation of family architects, José Ribas Folguera, Inmaculada Ribas Folguera, Adriana Ribas.

The firm offers a wide range of work to cover all possible urban and social needs of each moment. Ribas & Ribas Arquitectos has international experience and is currently developing exciting new projects in Spain, Andorra, Peru and Dubai.

The firm has established successful collaborations with renowned architects such as Josep Lluís Sert and Ateliers Jean Nouvel among others.

Ribas & Ribas has developed several projects such as the Torre Colón in Barcelona, ​​​​the Church of Baqueira - Beret, the New IESE Business School in Barcelona, ​​​​the Renaissance Barcelona Fira Hotel and the Life Marina condominium in Ibiza in partnership with Ateliers Jean Nouvel.

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