Architecture and interior design practice Jump Studios has revealed designs for the premium spaces that will feature within the new LDLC Arena currently under construction in Lyon, France.
The Arena, which is expected to be finished by the end of 2023, has been designed by the global architecture design firm Populous, which also designed the 59,186-capacity Groupama Stadium and Training Centre, completed in 2016 for Ligue 1 football club Olympique Lyonnais. The 16,000-capacity arena will be the largest in France outside Paris, and one of the most technologically and environmentally advanced in Europe.
Jump Studios, a Populous company, was appointed by OL Groupe, parent company of the football club, after a competition to deliver a range of premium hospitality spaces, as well as players’ changing rooms, artists’ dressing rooms and offices. The LDLC Arena is expected to host between 100 to 120 events per year.
Jump’s interiors work seeks to build on the brand identity created for the LDLC Arena by the Populous in-house specialist brand activation team. This included the logo and wayfinding throughout the arena.
The Arena will have a capacity of 16,000 for concerts promoted by the global entertainment group and non-exclusive commercial partner Live Nation, and around 12,000 for sporting events, including home EuroLeague basketball matches for LDLC ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne. It has also been designed to accommodate a range of other events such as large-scale seminars, trade shows, futsal, tennis and esports competitions.
Drawing on extensive interiors experience designing hospitality spaces for clients that include The O2 and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, as well as the under development Co-op Live arena in Manchester, Jump Studios has created a series of flexible, premium spaces to maximise the customer, performer and player experiences, and drive revenue from different users every day of the week.
The hospitality spaces are spread over three floors, with the overriding objective to create a choice of clubs and lounges that offer unique entertainment spaces to rival the best bars, restaurants and clubs to be found in the city of Lyon. As a result, Jump Studios has designed flexible amenity spaces that take guests on a journey throughout the day, for example, transitioning from a meeting place to a bar to a post-show club.
Digital overlay has also been carefully integrated into the internal fabric to connect brands, fans and other visitors and ensure the hospitality spaces not only enrich the viewing experience but are highly attractive to potential sponsors and corporate partners.
The premium spaces include:
The Terraces – Level 3
The relaxed and informal lounge is an extension to the seating bowl, aiming to provide a “hip members’ club feel”, with the use of dark and moody tones designed to ensure spilled light does not interfere or detract from live events. A statement bar provides the focus for the space with collapsible or freestanding furniture enabling event day capacity of 144 to be increased to 256 on non-event days.
The Studio – Ground Floor
To be used by friends, family and special guests of players or performing artists, this ground level, courtside Bunker Club provides the best seats or standing position in the house, evoking a feeling akin to being at the back of the locker room for a basketball game or green room for a concert. A super exclusive cocktail bar and lounge, the Bunker Club is designed to be a high-end space.
Sky Boxes – Level 3
Located alongside the VIP stands, the collection of 16 boxes caters for 266 guests across five differently sized spaces, each adopting an informal ‘apartment’ style concept with defined areas for a kitchen, bar, lounge and seating open to the live event.
The Suite – Level 1
A light, airy, highly flexible space that serves as a VIP lounge for up to 116 guests on event days but offers significant scope for alternative, commercial opportunities, potentially functioning as co-working space.
The Club – Ground Floor
The Grand Salon VIP provides a double-height lounge adjacent to the main hall, accessible through a private VIP reception. A courtside club or nightclub for 200 guests on event days, the space can also accommodate 300 guests for multiple other uses including small conferences, banqueting and party rentals, AGMs and product launches.
Conceived as the ‘buzz space’ of the whole arena, it is flooded with natural light during the day but at night the lights are lowered to provide a post show/event atmosphere.
Executive Boxes – Level 1
The mezzanine VVIP boxes provide some of the best seating in the house and most luxurious spaces in the arena, following a penthouse-style concept with defined areas for the bar, lounge and ‘outdoor’ seating within the bowl. Walls slide away to double the capacity of the lodges, making them suitable for non-match day meetings.
Liam Doyle, principal at Jump Studios, said: “We have set out to deliver a carefully integrated premium hospitality offer that delivers a seamless, high quality user experience throughout the day and into the night.
“Reflecting an elegant aesthetic through the lenses of sport and entertainment, we have sought to capitalise on this major new asset for Lyon and, above all, give everyone who visits these exciting spaces the best possible entertainment experience.”
