We got to the beautiful competition of the city of Hradec Kralove, which was also the sponsor of the competition.
Hradec Králové Stadium!

A few questions to HAP Jakub Seifert about behind the scenes information during the creation.

How many “nights” did you spend on the project?

The design lasted about 3 months and the final was traditionally hearty, the last 3 days we were tweaking the visages with @studiohorak1995 (thanks to their above standard deployment of people) more or less nonstop. Thank you!

What challenges did the project have?

The challenge was to meet the brief for a stadium that met the high criteria for hosting international events to UEFA and FIFA standards while fitting the required volume (size and price). We sought to achieve this by recessing the playing area half a storey below the existing ground, thus minimising the area of the perimeter façade and simplifying the construction of the stands (and therefore making them cheaper). The big challenge was to deal with an iconic attribute of the existing stadium, namely the existing lighting in the form of “lollipops”. The old stadium was called “Under the Lollipops” and it is a landmark of Hradec in the zoning plan and every Hradec resident is proud of it. Nowadays, the construction of the new stadium is underway, so they took them down, but they’re going to reinstall them.

What reference stadiums served you in your design?

Because of their lower capacity, we were inspired by smaller English-style stadiums. Stadiums from the lower English competitions, but also stadiums from Scandinavia or Poland.

What sports is the stadium designed for?

The stadium is purely for football, but it allows for cultural events or social events in the main stand, which is adapted to this multi-purpose.

Have you communicated with any athletes, for example, to perhaps meet their needs?

We were aware of the environment because in 2008 we coincidentally did the design of a new stadium for Hradec together with a shopping centre.

That project was stopped because the investor of the shopping centre left the Czech Republic.