Refurbishing Fonte Nova Stadium, Município de Salvador, Brazil

Out of the competition called in 2008 by the Brazilian state of Bahia to deal with the inner-city stadium in danger of collapse, the team Büro SCHULITZ in collaboration with TETRA Arquitetura (Sao Paulo) and RFR Ingenieure (Stuttgart) won 1st prize.

The new stadium ITAÍPAVA ARENA FONTE NOVA has a horseshoe shape with an opening to the south. This gives the stadium a direct relationship with the lake to the south. The traditional shape offers the advantage of good aeration of the turf. The stadium is suitable not only for sports, but also for events such as concerts, weddings and congresses. It also has a floating restaurant above the southern opening.

The team designed the roof as an innovative spoke-wheel variant, with the roof membrane sandwiched between the cable rings, which accounts for maximum performance with the least amount of material. The very high air supports penetrate the roof, resulting in a structurally effective structural system. With a weight of 45 kg/m², the roof structure is one of the lightest in the world. The cable rings, which are half above and half below the roof skin, offer advantages for the various functional requirements: They allow undisturbed sight lines at low roof pitches with good protection from the sun, but the area of attack for wind is also low.

The façade consists of large-format horizontal louvers installed at different pitches depending on the orientation of the façade and the functions behind it, which reduces energy input from solar radiation. The use of rainwater ensures low additional water requirements.

The stadium's energy consumption is low thanks to innovative systems; the primary energy consumption of each material was evaluated, the concrete of the demolished stadium was reused, and the construction process was organized in a sustainable way.

Transsolar provided evidence of the technical concept for ventilation, drainage, irrigation and artificial lighting. To ensure the well-being of the turf, solar radiation was determined using PAR parameters (photosynthetically active radiation).

2013 CCS European Steel Design Awards (Portugal)
2014 Leed Silver
2015 Silver IOC/IAKS, Highest Award Category Stadium