Chengdu is gearing up for two major sporting events to be held there over the next two years. A sports complex was built, which architecture refers to the tableware from the Ming dynasty.

Summer Universiade and Asian Cup

Chengdu Fenghuangshan Football Stadium is situated in Jinniu District, located in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province. The venue was supposed to be the main arena of the 31st edition of the Summer Universiade, which was scheduled for 2021, but due to the pandemic, the event was postponed by a year. In addition, the Asian Cup games in 2023 will be held there.

In June 2018, a consortium of HKS and China State Construction Southwest Institute won a contest for the design of the facility. The construction of the 60,000-seater officially started on February 22, 2019, although the first works began on December 29, 2018.

© CSCEC

Their contractors were Chengdu Urban Investment Group and China Construction Eighth Bureau. The stadium with the sports hall and accompanying buildings cost CNY 6.43 billion (€ 850 million) and was approved for use on March 31, 2021.

Stadium and sports hall like Gaiwan

A football ground, a multi-purpose hall (18,000 seats) and commercial buildings form an integral structure, of which architecture refers to the centuries-old tradition of tea drinking in Sichuan. The shape of the stadium can be seen as a bowl without a handle, a raised plaza around the venue as a saucer, and the sports hall as a lid. The whole thing was inspired by a tea infusion set called Gaiwan.

The hall located north of the football arena is 54 m high, 183 m long in the north-south axis, 152 m wide in the east-west direction. At its highest point, the stadium reaches 60 m and its length in the north-south direction is 242 m. The width of the venue from east to west is 202 m.

© CSCEC

Unique roof of Chengdu Fenghuangshan Football Stadium

Open dome of the stadium roof consists of cable strands covered with a membrane. The area of the unfolded membrane is approximately 27,000 sq m. The facades of the sports hall and the football ground are light gray metal curtains with numerous openings.

They comprise 8,800 perforated aluminum panels and 69,000 panels of the same material but without holes. The total area of curtain walls is 61,000 sq m. They can be illuminated in different colours at night.

Stadium’s auditorium is divided into two levels, separated by a strip of business seats (a total of 65 boxes). Interestingly, downstairs behind the goal on the south side, a mobile 3128-seat stand has been installed, which is to be used for the organisation of various types of events. Above there is a large TV screen measuring 13.1 x 6.57 m.

The colours of the seats are mosaic dominated by different shades of yellow and blue. According to the architects, this effect is 'the wind blowing through the wheat'. The playing field consists of 95% natural grass and 5% synthetic fibers.

Author: Tomasz Sobura

© CSCEC