Featured image credit: L35 Arquitectos
Construction work is set to commence on a new stadium for Bolivian Primera División football giant Club Bolívar.
Club Bolívar had its own stadium in the Tembladerani neighbourhood of La Paz, Estadio Libertador Simón Bolívar, but the 5,000 capacity venue was only used for training sessions and friendly matches, with official games held at the 41,000-capacity Estadio Hernando Siles.
In January 2021, Club Bolívar revealed a venture designed to mark the team’s centenary in 2025, with the new stadium at the heart of this. The Centenario plan outlined two different schemes, resulting in a stadium with a capacity of either 20,000 or 25,000.
Spanish design studio L35 Arquitectos was chosen to deliver the project in November 2021, following an international competition organised by the club and its partner City Football Group (CFG), the ownership body of English Premier League champion Manchester City.
Ultimately, a 20,000-seat design was chosen that will sit on the site of the Estadio Libertador Simón Bolívar. Following a first phase which commenced in July, demolition of the old stadium has been completed with construction of the new facility now set to commence.
L35’s proposal manages to incorporate both the increased demands of a modern stadium and the enhanced capacity by raising the playing field one level above the current one. In this way, L35 believes the connection with the surrounding streets is improved, while an extra underground area is gained.
“The urban impact of a construction (project) of these characteristics requires internalising the environment and adapting to the scale of the place,” Guillermo Gusó, an architect of L35, told Mexican website ArchDaily.
Club Bolívar joined the City Football Group family as its first ‘partner club’. Founded in 1925, Club Bolívar boasts 30 domestic league titles, the most of any Bolivian football club. As a partner club, Club Bolívar is able to access a wide breadth of expertise, proprietary technology, best practice, and strategic advice developed by CFG through its multi-club structure.
On the business side, CFG said it would help Club Bolívar grow its partnership revenue, build world-class facilities, promote league-wide improvements, and support the development of its key executives.
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