Real Madrid has appointed Acerinox Europa to supply the eye-catching stainless steel that will clad both the façade and the roof of the new Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
The Madrid-based company’s Cadiz plant will manufacture the material to cover the famous stadium as part of a €575m (£502.4m/$628.8m) redevelopment plan. The stadium will feature a fixed and retractable roof and steel surround skin that will be capable of projecting imagery and illuminating the venue.
In a statement, Acerinox said it has developed new finishes for the façade, which reduce the reflection of sunlight on users, vehicles and adjacent buildings.
Acerinox said the steel for the stadium’s retractable roof will consist of a fixed part and a retractable part, the latter located over the pitch. This will offer a roof that can be opened in just 15 minutes, or closed depending on the needs and activities to be held in the stadium, allowing for a greater variety of shows.
“The new roof is a commitment to environmental sustainability given the choice of material: stainless steel, a 100-per-cent recyclable material and an example of the circular economy, which also reduces noise and light pollution,” an Acerinox spokesperson said.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez last year outlined the club’s plans to transform the Bernabéu into a “technological platform” that transforms the experience for fans. The revamped stadium will feature a 360-degree video scoreboard that is set to become one of the standout elements of the redesign.
In May 2019, Real awarded Spanish building and infrastructure company FCC Construcción the contract to handle the redevelopment of the stadium. At the time, Real said the timeframe needed to renovate the Bernabéu was 39 months, meaning it would be finished by August 2022, plus an additional four months needed to develop the stadium’s exterior.
Construction work on the project began in June 2019, and since then the existing roof has already been dismantled.
New towers have been installed on the Paseo de la Castellana side, which will hold escalators, lifts and ramps and also serve an architectural purpose to provide structural support for the new roof.
This side of the stadium has also undergone two major changes, with the construction of an underground car park on the site that was home to the Esquina del Bernabéu shopping centre. An adjoining building, which housed club offices and a superstore, has also been demolished to make way for a new much larger facility.
The project is being funded by through a €575m loan from US financial services giants J.P Morgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which was agreed last year.
Images: Real Madrid
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