Japanese practice Nikken Sekkei has beaten a field of top international designers to win the job of renewing Barcelona Football Club’s stadium.
The firm, which has teamed up with local architect Pascual i Ausió, came ahead of Aecom, Arup and Gensler, among others, to take the Camp Nou project.
The work will involve adding a third tier to the ground, increasing its capacity from 99,350 to 105,000 and making it the largest football club stadium in the world.
A 47,000 square metre roof will also be built.
A statement on FC Barcelona’s website says the proposal stood out for being “open, elegant, serene, timelessly Mediterranean and democratic. It is also notable for its relationship with the environment, providing depth, creating shadows”
It added that the design was “a silent and powerful tribute to the stadium built by Francesc Mitjans in 1957”.
The competition was judged by a jury made up of five members of FC Barcelona, three members of the Collegi d’Arquitectes and one representative of Barcelona council.
Construction work is due to begin in 2017 and will be completed in 2021.
Images via FC Barcelona
