In line with the main requirements of UEFA Category 4, the new Tammela Stadium, designed by JKMM Architects, can be used for both UEFA Europa League matches and national team games. Its total capacity is 8,000 seats, while in concert format it expands to 15,000, allowing for larger-scale events.
The old Tammela Stadium was one of Finland's first sports venues designed exclusively for football, and it has served as such since the early 1930s. Through an invited competition held in 2014, the Tampere City Council sought a proposal that would meet the needs of contemporary football while also increasing the density of the original site.
"Hattutemppu" (meaning "hat trick") – the winning proposal – was conceived as a hybrid building, in which typologies and structures are interwoven. Far from simply responding to the programmatic demands of the football world, the project forms a multipurpose complex of almost 50,000 sqm comprising the football stadium, five residential buildings, a shopping center, and several parking facilities. Like a city in miniature, Tammela Stadium accommodates multiple functions that are proportionately integrated into the dense urban fabric of the city.
Tammela Stadium by JKMM Architects. Photograph by Tuomas Uusheimo.
Project description by JKMM Architects
Hybrid concept on football's terms
The old Tammela stadium has been serving as a football pitch since the early 1930s and is one of Finland’s first sports venues built specifically for football. The City of Tampere wanted to preserve the stadium in its traditional location despite the need to densify the area.
A solution was sought through an invited competition held in 2014. JKMM’s proposal, “Hattutemppu” (Eng. hat trick) won the competition by creatively addressing urban design, architectural, structural, and traffic challenges within the tight block structure while respecting the area's character and scale.
In the hybrid building, typologies and structures intertwine. The brick-clad residential buildings open to an active street space facing the long sides of the stadium. Their courtyards are elevated to the roof levels between the masses. In the compact football pitch, the stands rise immediately from the edges of the pitch. The stadium’s glass entrances shield the field from the wind while maintaining spatial connectivity with the surroundings.
The roof arching over the block from east to west is the most distinctive feature of the landmark. The stadium’s shape echoes the structure of the suspended steel canopies, extending onto the roofs of the residential buildings, blending the block with its environment, and indicating the nature of the public building. The lowest point of the arch is placed along the lengthwise axis of the field, ensuring that the canopy does not cast a shadow on the field or the northern schoolyard.
Strategy for a more sustainable city
Tampere is Finland's most attractive urban area. Sustainable and high-quality densification of the city centre further strengthens the city's vitality and service structure. No buildings were demolished at the stadium site; instead, old stands, lighting, and field structures were reused at other city fields. The stadium’s central location relies on existing infrastructure and is accessible by public transport. The local football club Ilves Tampere is responsible for the operation of the Tammela Stadium.
The stadium's versatility shortens its usage times, offering services to a broad range of users. The block is connected to an efficient district heating and cooling network. Optimisation of the structures was a key starting point in their design. The light-coloured roof surface cleans urban air pollutants and reflects light, cooling the spaces below.
The hybrid stadium brings vibrant football culture to the heart of the city, with spectators arriving from different directions. The stadium complements the Tammela grid plan area. Ground-level commercial spaces add to the area's services. The entire development awaits the city's residents to embrace it.
Miniature city functions and architecture
Tammela Stadium resembles a miniature city, containing many different functions. It seamlessly connects to the city’s block network. Residential buildings face park streets and the stadium’s southern and northern plazas, through which spectators enter the block's corners. Visiting team supporters have their own entrance at the northeast corner of the block. Entrances for players, VIP spectators, referees, and the press are located on the west side of the block.
Parking, the commercial centre, its maintenance, and residential support facilities are in the basement, accessed from the south side. The massing of residential buildings offers a diverse selection of apartments. The upper floors provide views in all directions, with the largest apartments even overlooking the field.
The stadium entrances are located beneath the end stands, and pitch maintenance is at the northwest corner of the block. At street level, the stadium’s public spaces surround the pitch on three sides, with additional spaces on all sides in the second level. The main stand is situated on the eastern edge of the pitch, and the restaurant, VIP, and press stands are on the western edge. During the design phase, an additional spectator seats were added above the main stand, allowing the stadium to meet the UEFA category 4 requirements.
The building’s lighting supports the drama of the stadium events. The design aims to create experiences. Artists Tommi Grönlund and Petteri Nisunen have created a light art installation called “Puolenvaihto” (Eng. half-time break) on the underside of the canopies. The graphic form of the moving light refers to the energy and movement of football.
Structures and materials
Tectonics
The architecture of the project is tectonic in nature, marked by structural form and joint articulation. Architecture imparts meaning to the structure, and the structure gives form to the architecture, articulating its details. The structure is purposeful and serves its function. The stands are free of columns, and the end canopies' joints allow for movement. Up close, the details of the structure are massive, even rough. From a distance, they form light, almost poetic lines. The collaboration between the structural engineer, architect, and builder has been crucial in resolving challenges from the start of the project.
Pillars
The pillars are primarily steel composite columns cast-in-situ reinforced concrete wall and slab structures. Each corner of the stadium has a sloped pillar with a reinforced concrete base and a prefabricated steel branch pillar in two sections at the top. The top is surrounded by a steel collar welded to the steel branch pillar installed on site. The steel branch pillars support the end canopies' compressive loads and transfer them through the basement to the foundations. This setup prevents load stress on the residential buildings, ensuring their renovation and lifespan are independent of the stadium.
Beams
The beams include WQ beams on the restaurant stand side, reinforced concrete beams in the lower stand of the main stand, and welded I-beams in the balcony stand. End stands are supported by cast-in-situ reinforced concrete wall and slab structures.
Floors
The floors are primarily hollow-core slabs and, in some cases, cast-in-situ structures. The supporting structures for the end stands are cast-in-situ reinforced concrete slab structures. The stand floor structures are L-shaped reinforced concrete elements.
End Canopies
The end canopies feature a bridge-like suspended structure supported by six cables. The cables are anchored at the ends of the canopy with reinforced concrete structures and sloped pillar structures. The cables support the steel beam elements, which are secured to the cables. The steel beam elements act as roof stiffeners, transferring forces between elements through horizontal shear-resistant joints. They allow the roof to flex and the cables to stretch.
End Glass Walls
The vertical steel structures of the end glass walls follow the mechanical forces acting on them. The end stand supports the steel structure of the facade glass wall with a movement-allowing joint. The bottom part of the glass walls, attached to the concrete slab, is hinged to allow lateral movement at the top. The structure allows vertical movement of the suspended canopy when snow loads unevenly affect the roof.
Side Roofs
The roof structures of the side stands are supported by steel pylon structures. The roof steelwork is supported by the pylon structures through direct connections and steel rods attached between the pylon and steelwork. Each pylon is supported by three rock-anchored tension rods placed inside a protective tube on the residential side.
Roof
The load-bearing profile sheets rest on steel beams, with joints designed to accommodate movements between the steel beam elements. Above the profile sheets, the roof is constructed with cladding plywood and light-coloured bitumen membrane that cleans air pollutants. The side and end canopies are separated by a movement joint that accommodates structural movements.
Facade Materials
The block’s outer perimeter is clad in light-coloured brick, with glass and perforated steel plates on the ends. The cast-in-situ concrete surfaces of the entrances extend into the stadium’s interior, defined by steel structures. The green artificial turf of the pitch serves as a stage for football as size of an opening in the roof.
