Estadio de la Cerámica – design description

When were the details of the Estadio de la Cerámica redevelopment project presented?

The first details of the project were made public in February 2022, and on 11th May 2022, just before the start of the works, an official ceremony was held at El Ceramista restaurant, attended by the president of Villarreal CF, the mayor of the city and representatives of the designers, the company IDOM, among others, at which information about the planned extension of Estadio de la Cerámica was presented.

What will be the scale of Villarreal CF's stadium redevelopment?

As part of the project, a new roof will be built over the stadium to fully cover all the stands of the arena. A new, last missing corner stand will be built in the south-west side. All the seats in the stadium will be replaced, and in some sections the spacing between them will be increased for the better comfort of the spectators. The capacity of the stadium will be maintained at 22,000 spectators.

A new floodlighting system will be built into the roof, making the two masts on the south side redundant. Two new LED screens will be installed above the stands behind the goals. The quality of television broadcasts will be improved by the installation of mobile cameras suspended on ropes. Photovoltaic panels will be placed on the roof.

New usable spaces will be created under the stands, including for the new club museum. Externally, the entire stadium will gain a yellow ceramic facade (in part it already has one since 2017). Both the colour and the material of the exterior were chosen not by chance; yellow is the dominant colour of the club, from which, in fact, its nickname 'Yellow Submarine' derives, while ceramics are the main export product of the region.

The design for the redevelopment of the stadium was created by the international company IDOM. The modernisation will give the venue a more coherent, unified form, although each of the stands will still retain its original shape, which is different from the others. The surface area of the new roof will be 12.9 thousand sq m, and the ceramic facade 8.7 thousand sq m. Prior to the works, several buildings adjacent to the stadium were purchased.

When will the stadium in Vila-real be redeveloped?

Work on the extension of the Estadio de la Cerámica began on 16th May 2022, the day after Villarreal CF played their last home league game of the 2021/22 season, with local company Alviben being the main contractor. Construction is expected to be completed at the end of December 2022, with the stadium ready to play the match of the 15th round of LaLiga matches, scheduled for 29-31 December.

During the works, the club will play its home matches in Valencia, at the Estadi Ciutat de València (the venue of Levante UD), while hoping to play as many away matches as possible during this period.

The redevelopment is expected to cost the club €35 million, with funding from a business partnership between LaLiga and CVC Capital Partners helping to finance it. The revamped stadium is expected to be ready just in time for 2023, which will be a symbolic year for Villarreal CF; that year will mark the centenary of both the club and the stadium, as well as the 25th anniversary of Fernando Roig's presidency, under which the club has enjoyed its greatest successes.