3XN plans green-roofed sports arena for munich's olympic park

3XN has been selected to complete a multipurpose sports arena in germany. to be built on the site of the former cycling track stadium in munich’s olympic park, the indoor venue will host ice hockey and basketball games in front of a capacity of up to 11,500. meanwhile, to improve the local sports infrastructure for schools, amateur clubs, and young talents, three additional canopied ice rinks will be built next to the arena as training facilities and for recreational use.

all images courtesy of mir/3XN

developed in collaboration with latz+partner, 3XN’s winning design was presented by the city of munich, FC bayern basketball, software company SAP, and energy drinks brand red bull. once open in 2021, the arena will be home to ice hockey club munich red bulls and basketball team FC bayern munich. topped with a green roof, the oval-shaped building has been designed to fit into the context of the park — which features the distinctive olympic stadium designed by günter behnisch and frei otto.

‘during the design process, we continually thought about the park’s original design and asked ourselves how günter behnisch would have approached the task,’ explains jan ammundsen, 3XN architect’s head of design. ‘it was important to us to create a flexible, multipurpose arena with a strong identity while respecting the history and vision of the original olympic park and fitting in quite naturally. we want to create the perfect backdrop for a fantastic fan experience.’

training areas are partially underground and modeled to form a green hill, picking up the topography and enabling a coherent continuation of the pathways and landscape design of the park. the groundbreaking ceremony is planned for winter 2019, provided the construction permit and building preparations are obtained in time. the inauguration of the new arena is planned for late summer 2021.

SAP has secured the arena’s naming rights. however, the software company has launched a naming competition for the stadium where future fans and spectators are invited to help find a name for the venue and can enter their suggestions online. the deadline for entries is march 4, 2019. a jury consisting of representatives from red bull, FC bayern basketball, and SAP will then select a shortlist of names before members of the public get to vote for their favorite name online.

project info:

architect: 3XN and latz+partner
location: munich, germany
client/owner: red bull stadion münchen GmbH
targeted completion: late summer 2021