Poland was chosen as a host nation, despite its inexperience in hosting major sports events
PITCHING IT RIGHT
investment of PLN110bn (£21.9bn, EUR26.3bn, US$34.7bn) – a significant slice of which was for road, rail and air transport improvements. This pro- gramme is replicated in Ukraine. The upgrade of Poland and Ukraine’s
infrastructure has been crucial to the ability to transport supporters. UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said: “We estimate that about 1.6 million fans will visit Poland and Ukraine next June. “More importantly, the tournament
will give Poland and Ukraine the chance to make names for themselves around the world, by increasing their appeal as tourist destinations to potential visi- tors in the medium to long-term.”
Football facilities Eight stadia – four in each country – will be used during Euro 2012 and all have either undergone a refurbishment or are new-build venues. Warsaw’s National Sta- dium, which opened on 29 January, is the largest of Poland’s stadia and will stage the opening ceremony and first match. Gerkan Marg and Partners (GMP);
Schlaich Bergermann and Partner and JSK Architekci worked on the design of the PLN1,915bn (£378m, EUR440m, US$604m) stadium, which seats 55,000 fans. A notable design feature is an 11,000sq m retractable membrane roof element, unfolding from a ‘needle’ above the centre of the pitch. Hightex worked with steel manufac-
turer Cimolai of Italy and Poland-based Mostostal Zabrze to develop the roof- ing system, with a radial cable system supporting the 55,000sq m fixed outer portion of PTFE/glass membrane. The retractable element comprises a PVC/ polyester membrane and is suspended at 960 points above the stadium floor. Among the contractors responsible for delivering Warsaw’s National Stadium
Issue 1 2012 © cybertrek 2012
and Ukraine. Along with striking ar- chitecture and spectator facilities, a crucial consideration in creating high- quality venues is ensuring a playing surface that meets the expectations of an international sporting event. UK-based STRI has had great success
B
working at three venues in Ukraine – Donetsk, Kiev and Kharkiv – to create pitches poised to impress this summer. Operations director Richard Hayden has been involved with that work and explains how a new STRI system has helped deliver some positive results. “Pitches at the three venues are ab-
solutely perfect at the moment,” says Hayden. “We have temperatures of -20o
ing (ISASS) – allows us to grow and maintain grass at -20o
C and even -30o C and this system – In Situ Air Sparg- C.
This has been proven to work very ef- fectively and we’re coming out of the winter season with perfect pitches.” Although STRI has deployed the solu-
tion at Donetsk, Hayden says that it was the modification of facilities already in- stalled and Kharkiv is where the system is being showcased. “[Kharkiv is] the
was Alpine, which was also involved with the construction of Gdansk’s 44,000-seat PGE Arena. Designed by RKW, the complex has a facade con- sisting of polycarbonate panels, with modules becoming more translucent to- wards the top of the venue. Also in Poland, Alpine worked on a
complete overhaul of Poznan’s Stadion Miejski (City Stadium), completed in 2010. Home to Lech Poznan, the facility has a roof area of 52,000sq m of Mehler Tex- nologies PVC-PES with double weldable
uilding the new or improved stadia for Euro 2012 has been a main area of focus for Poland
Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) created the pitch at the Metalist Stadium in Khartiv, Ukraine
one we are focusing on due to the fact that we did the full design and mainte- nance from start to finish.” ISASS allows for venues to grow
grass through pressurisation and heat- ing – or cooling – the surrounding area to create a micro-environment. Hayden is very optimistic about its potential: “To design something that goes from -30o
C to +40o C is a big challenge and
it’s as difficult a design challenge as we’ve ever had. “Usually, you’re engineering for ei-
ther very cold or very warm weather. That is why we’re excited about the ISASS concept, because we think we’re onto something huge. We believe we will be in a position in the near future to have shown that we can grow grass anywhere with this technology.” Hayden is in no doubt that Ukraine
– together with Poland – will confound any critics: “Two years ago, everybody was talking about infrastructure not being ready,” he said. “But Ukraine has four fantastic stadia and three fantastic pitches. The world will come away with a positive impression.”
PVDF Type IV FR1400. The skeleton was constructed from 7,000 tonnes of steel. Poland’s fourth Euro 2012 venue is the
Stadion Miejski (Municipal Stadium) in Wroclaw. JSK Architekci devised a con- cept for the complex that has seen a glass fibre mesh coated with Teflon envelope the entire arena. The venue also has two LED video screens installed by Mitsubishi Electric with Shadok Audio-Visual. The Euro 2012 final will be hosted at
Ukraine’s flagship stadium – the NSC Olimpiyskiy (Olympic Stadium). Designed
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