Miami Freedom Park – design description

Miami Freedom Park is a major leisure complex planned by private investors connected to David Beckham, which will replace the Melreese Country Club, just beside Miami's international airport. Of the current 53-hectare quarter only a set of community ballparks will be retained fully.

Aside from the main stadium the complex will comprise a 750-bed hotel, 93,000 m² of office, retail and commercial space public soccer academy (9 fields, though only 1 full-sized, in total 9.3 ha) and vast public green areas.

The stadium itself was long kept secret, represented in early renderings as an unrealistic oval with extremely compromised auditorium. However, the final concept developed by Arquitectonica and HOK proves to be a true football/soccer-specific venue.

It offers seating for some 25,000 people within a compact and irregular auditorium. The north is dominated by a steep, single-tiered grandstand for vocal supporters, with roof amplifying their sound. In the south an opening is envisioned, topped by a bridge with additional hospitality areas.

The auditorium isn't the most interesting thing, though. Internal walls of the stadium are to create a massive multimedia display, comparable only to that in Krasnodar, Russia. From the outside the stadium will be wrapped with lightweight, translucent roof shaped to resemble wings of the flamingo, symbol of both Miami and the football club.