The red doesn’t stand for love in this case, local football club was the actual inspiration for this design. The compact stadium is interesting but the story of its construction became subject of ridicule nationwide.

The location of this new stadium in Çorum (Northern Anatolia) is near the southern outlet from the city, along the Samsun-Ankara highway, where sports facilities of amateur rank have existed for many years.

The story of the stadium dates back to 2014, when the design of Istanbul-based Bahadir Kul Architects was revealed. Unlike many other stadiums in Turkey, this one was commissioned by the city itself, only to be transferred to central authorities once complete. 

Construction of a new venue further from the city centre was supposed to release land occupied by the old Dr. Turhan Kılıçcıoğlu Stadyumu. This would allow the sale and return on at least part of the public project, with a congress centre planned on the ground's site. 

Construction was officially launched in April of 2016, with the intention of delivery in July of 2018. However, with insufficient municipal funding, the contractor was forced to slow down or stop at times. As a result, only in late 2019 the building was structurally ready.

© Çorum Belediyesi

But even then seats had to be replaced by new ones, while landscaping and infrastructural work around the stadium lasted until mid-2020. On June 15 work was delivered, while on June 29 the Ministry of Youth and Sports took control of the facility. 

Initial construction deal between Çorum and contractor Çakır İnşaat was just under TRY 60 million. However, this proved significantly underestimated in the long run. The city was thus forced to seek alternative solutions, like offering the contractor lucrative plots of land within the city as partial payment. Eventually, the project was also bailed out by the state lottery. The construction cost - according to data from January 2021 - increased to TRY 209 million ($28 million as of Jan, 2021).

© Çorum Belediyesi

Conceptually, the stadium is simple and modern. Though the sporting status of Çorumspor is a complex story (two clubs exist now, new one named Çorum FK, the historical one being amateur), Bahadir Kul Architects opted for the club colours red and black to serve as primary inspiration and point of reference. Covered primarily with a metal sheet, the bowl has a dominant main stand and – as counterweight on the east side – amplified corners. 

© Çorum Belediyesi

The auditorium creates a continuous single ring around the field, only seeing two floors of additional facilities atop the west stand, which is why that stand's height is noticeably bigger. With 15,000 seats in total, the stadium is to offer room for nearly 1 in 10 residents of the city, roughly 2,500 of whom could use premium seating. 

The entire plot covers almost 9 hectares, of which the stadium itself is 26,230 square metres. The remaining area is occupied by 1,061 parking places (+25 for disabled fans). Yeni Çorum Stadyumu has a heated pitch, dimensions of which are 110 x 68 metres. The facility has one entrance for away supporters. The north, south and east stands have two entrances.

Author: Tomasz Sobura