Populous-designed BBVA Bancomer stadium opens in Monterrey, Mexico
The US$200m (€184m, £128m) Estadio BBVA Bancomer, touted as the most hospitality-driven soccer stadium in Latin America, has opened in Monterrey, Mexico.
Designed by sports architects Populous, the 51,000-capacity stadium will be the new home of Club de Fútbol Monterrey (CF Monterrey).
What makes the stadium unique in the region is the emphasis on creating a premium fan experience.
The stadium boasts 324 luxury suites – more than any other soccer stadium in the world – and 4,500 club seats, distributed in two central club lounges which will service all club seat holders. The West Club includes a kids’ zone and unique balcony with views to players’ tunnel.
Each seating section has hawker’s service points built into the seating bowl, offering instant service for fans in their seats. The proportion of restrooms and points of sales per spectator exceeds the current standards in Mexican facilities.
Fans will also be closer to the pitch than at most other stadia – nine meters on the side lines, the closest distance allowed by FIFA.
More than 800 high definition televisions are located throughout the concourses for continued connection with the action on the field.
David Lizarraga, lead architect on the project and Senior Associate at Populous, said that Estadio BBVA will “usher in the next generation of stadiums in Latin America”.
“I’m confident the vision for the stadium will forever change what Latin American soccer fans expect in a stadium,” Lizarraga said.
“The level of comfort for fans and athletes will be unparalleled in Estadio BBVA Bancomer. All seats will have excellent views to the field. The stadium was designed to be friendly and welcoming for all members of society: children, women, elderly, families, persons with disabilities, the young and the old.”
“Through creative urban planning, an understanding of global trends in the fan experience and a progressive, sophisticated vision for the sport’s future in the region, Estadio BBVA Bancomer has the potential to transform an entire region’s expectations.”
According to Lizarraga, the design has been inspired by the region’s history of brewing and steel manufacturing.
The structure is clad in metallic armature and aluminum, paying tribute to the steels mills that once thrived in the city. The silhouette of brewing stills influenced the asymmetrical shape of the stadium that lowers to the south, framing the famous Cerro de la Silla Mountain.
“The design was inspired by the aspects of Monterrey that have made it such a unique city,” Lizarraga said. “Monterrey has long been a major steel manufacturer and a city of “the brewery”, some of the city’s most interesting legacies. The design honors this with materials selected that highlight this history – like an aluminium façade – and crescent shaped openings that pays tribute to beer stills and steel mills.”
To add to the in-game experience, AV specialist Daktronics – working in partnership with Mexican partner Pantallas Publitronics – has supplied two LED video displays, each measuring 8.41 metres high by 19.02 metres wide and featuring 13HD pixel layouts.
The displays feature variable content zoning which allows each display to show one large image or to be divided into multiple different zones to provide any combination of live video, instant replays, scoring information, animations and sponsorship messages.
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