Gürsel Aksel Stadı – design description

In the west of the city a football-specific stadium is to replace the one named after legendary Göztepe player Aksel, with its dynamic bowl designed by Alper Aksoy’s team, who have numerous other sports designs in Turkey in their portfolio.

Construction tender was initially expected in January of 2014, while delivery of the entire structure was planned by the end of 2015. However, after a series of setbacks, the project was halted and only received green light in late 2015.

The delay was significant, but it also proved an opportunity to increase stadium capacity (initially at 15,000). New stands have to continuous tiers of seating and while it’s less dynamic than the initial design, it’s much more in line with fan expectations in terms of size.