Jury Vote

It’s already the fifth time we include a Jury of architectural experts who cast their votes independently of the Popular Vote. Shortlist of 10 finalists was announced on February 25. Winner of the Vote was revealed on March 7 and you can find complete results of the Jury Vote below!

Jury members

ROBERT D. KENNEDY, Holmes Miller Architects, Glasgow | Working on his first stadium project in 1992, Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, for the Scottish Rugby Union, Robert didn’t realise that this would be the start of a now 27 year relationship with stadia design.

As an architect, then Partner in the Glasgow architectural firm The Miller Partnership, he would have an opportunity to work in the most exciting period of UK stadia design.

Now a director in Holmes Miller he has constructed almost 500,000 seats in the UK and abroad and sees no end to the ongoing evolution of stadia and arenas.

Highlights along the way include the RICOH Arena in Coventry, King Power Stadium in Leicester and the aforementioned Murrayfield Stadium, which at 67,500 capacity is the largest for the practice so far.

The market has changed and the practice have been successful overseas with the completion of the Ahmedabad Arena in Gujarat, India and the design of a soccer tournament hub in New Jersey, USA.

This international market will be a focus in the coming years, with Holmes Miller Architects having an office in Guangzhou, China and the need for sporting venues not relaxing soon. Although work close to home is still being done, as proven by redevelopment of the iconic Meadowbank in Edinburgh.

ALFREDO ANGULO QUEVEDO, Asunción | As has been tradition, every year we invite the architect author of previous Stadium of the Year winner. It couldn's have been different with one of Latin America's most famous football temples, nicknamed the Cauldron, or La Olla. Actually, La Nueva Olla, because the historical stadium of Cerro Porteño was redefined by Alfredo Angulo Quevedo. Despite spatial and financial constraints the stadium instantly gained recognition. For the architect it was a rare privilege of designing his beloved team's stadium.

La Nueva Olla was the first such grand stadium delivered by Angulo Quevedo, however his interest in sports architecture began long before. In the previous decade he completed executive documentation for two other stadia, in Encarnación and Caaguazú, so far not built.

After becoming an architect and engineer in early 1990s, Angulo Quevedo's career took a boost in early 2000s, seeing numerous public service, commercial and leisure projects, including sports complexes, hotels and hospitals, among other.

GINO ZAVANELLA, GAUarena, Rome | He has always supported the need for a radical renewal of the Italian stadium scene, opting, primarily, for the privatization of the same. This will provide the teams with stadium ownership, with the double benefits of capitalizatio and with the guarantee of investments and substantial interventions. Only with such a decisive choice a welcoming and multifunctional stadium used throughout the week can be obtained.

He was born in Turin and graduated in Florence in 1969 with arch. Spadolini, after following lessons with great teachers and masters of architecture like Ricci and Savioli: with them he also collaborated after graduation.

Currently he lives in Rome, where the headquarters of his team also lies: GAUarena. From the beginning of his career (pushed by a great passion for sport that led him to win various international titles in the ffshore category including the World Title) he maintains interest in sports facilities.

Between the 80s and 90s, he acquires important job orders as the definitive draft of Stadio Delle Alpi in Turin, the realization of “Sportilia, City of Sport”, the Euganeo stadium in Padova, the stadium of Salò and he wins the international competition for the stadium and the sports palace for Mediterranean Games in Tunis.

In the same years he collaborated with world famous architects such as Aldo Rossi and Ron Lubinsky. On the basis of these experiences, between 2003 and 2006, he's called to design and direct the work for the new Juventus FC training center in Vinovo.

In 2007 demolition of the old Delle Alpi (which he had both designed and redesigned) was approved and Zavanella becomes Project Manager and Chief Architect of the Juventus new stadium, works on which started in 2009 and ended in 2011.

In 2009 he was awarded the “FIABA” prize as a designer of the first stadium in Italy without architectural barriers. From 2007 to date he receives multiple job orders for the design of complexes of international level including:

• Palermo Stadium, Italy
• Palermo Training Centre, Italy
• Viareggio Stadium, Italy
• AS Roma Stadium named after the President Franco Sensi, Italy
• Stadium and commercial Centre & Museum in Rijeka, Croatia
• Olympic complex in Mostagamen, Algeria
• Hellas Verona FC Training Centre, Italy
• Restyling of Dall'Ara stadium, Bologna, Italy
• Extension of Bologna FC Training Centre in Casteldebole, Italy
• Auditorium and Multifunctional Center, Sulmona, Italy

Jury Vote Regulations

1. The Jury Vote runs independently from the Popular Vote. Its result will reveal our second Stadium of the Year winner.
2. The Jury consists of highly-experienced architects from various countries. Each year we invite different specialists with fresh experiences in stadium design.
3. Each Juror ranks every stadium individually. First, a quick round reveals shortlist of 10 finalist stadiums. Then every nominated stadium is ranked in three categories: architectural value, functionality and innovation.
4. The stadiums are graded based on best available audio-visual materials and texts. Due to extremely limited schedule visits to the sites are impossible. The criteria are limited only to aspects possible to verify at this early stage of each stadium’s operation as many venues still have work to be done in the future and should not be scrutinised unnecessarily.
5. Announcement of the result is expected around March 7-8, 2019, along with results of the Popular Vote. Date subject to change depending on vote progress.