Stadion NK Osijek – design description

NK Osijek plan to build a state of the art stadium and training complex in the western Pampas district of the city. Location isn't accidental, it's where a new bridge over Drava River si planned and a high-capacity road to provide proper access. The entire site spans over 15.3 hectares.

The stadium itself has some interesting characteristics, although Croatian media in their first reaction focused on the one we wouldn't have thought of: it's going to be the first stadium across Croatia to provide fully-covered auditorium. Even better, the vast roof (188x150m) will stretch outside the stadium, ensuring shade or rain protection and making it a more friendly public area. Hovering 22.5 meters above ground, it will be the landmark element. Associations with the Bordeaux stadium come to mind quite strongly, though.

The stadium's facade will be translucent, ensuring sufficient sunlight access by day to facilities beneath the stands. Divided into 12 horizontal rings, the facade would be illuminated in varying colours, making the stadium attractive by night.

Inside there's room for 12,000 people and the seating, unsurprisingly, would represent the white and blue colours of NK Osijek. Roughly 550 seats would be of higher standard, of which 100 spread across 7 skyboxes. The most unseen feature of this stadium would be jacuzzi and sauna boxes overlooking the field (3 of each kind), though NK Osijek did not provide an explanation as to how the glass of a sauna room would be prevented from misting over.

Outside the stadium there's enough space for 7 full-sized football fields, 150 VIP parking places, 750 public parking places and a spacious public plaza.