Industry News

Royal Arena built to encourage public engagement

Royal Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark has been built to ensure that the venue contributes to the local community by encouraging public engagement with its spaces and facilities.

The 35,000-square-metre sporting and cultural arena is located in the densely urban and residential Ørestad Syd area.

Danish firm 3XN completed the Royal Arena together with global architecture firm HKS to host concerts and international sporting events.

“Our most important question before starting the Royal Arena project was, how do we design the good neighbour for this area?” said 3XN founder and creative director, Kim Herfort Nielsen.

“Since the arena is a local building, it was important to us to design it as an aesthetic contribution to the area, and not just a massive concrete block like other stadiums tend to be. Design wise, Royal Arena is easy to recognise with the curvy wooden fins and the minimalistic Nordic expression and fits the nearby area.”

The flexible multipurpose arena features a podium that acts as a link between the building and its surroundings by introducing various plazas and areas for socialising around its perimeter.

Locals are encouraged to use these public spaces, as well as the wide entrance staircase and surrounding plaza, when the building is not in use.

Representatives from 3XN will speak on the project at TheStadiumBusiness Design & Development Summit on 28-29 November, Barcelona.