Four finalists are competing for the winning design of the Ostrava stadium Bazaly

PROJECT STUDIO: Feasibility Study on the Capacity of the Bazaly Football Stadium (2024)

Ostrava - In the architectural competition for the design of the new Bazaly football stadium in Ostrava, four finalists remain. The winner will emerge from their refined proposals. This was decided by the city council today. The information was shared with journalists by the spokesperson of the city hall, Gabriela Pokorná.

An international jury headed by Irish architect Valerie Mulvin gathered in the first half of June to assess nine competition proposals. "Based on the jury's recommendation, today the City Council of Ostrava decided to invite four selected architectural studios to refine their proposals in the second phase of the competition,” said Pokorná.

Initially, 30 studios from both domestic and foreign regions entered the competition. The city invited ten of them to submit their initial proposals by the end of May, and nine complied. "We selected four proposals that we believe best align with our ideas and expectations for how the New Bazaly should look. Due to the necessity to maintain as much transparency as possible, the entire competition was understandably announced as anonymous. Therefore, we cannot yet disclose any information about any of the proposals,” stated Mayor Jan Dohnal (Together).

The construction is set to take place at the same location where the first league club Baník Ostrava operated from 1959 until the 2014/15 season. It aims to be the best structure of its kind in the country and a new landmark for the city. The stadium, with a capacity of 19,500 to 20,000 spectators, is expected to cost around 2.5 billion crowns. It will also house the Regional Academy of the Czech Football Association for the Moravian-Silesian Region and the training center of Baník Ostrava.

"At the same time, the stadium will serve as an architectural landmark, a tourist attraction, and a place for community gatherings. In addition to offering services such as cafes, restaurants, and shops, there will also be a sports museum,” the spokesperson reminded us. The new stadium, which will allow for international matches including national team games, is expected to be certified according to the BREEAM standard (building sustainability). Construction work could ideally begin in 2029.

Bazaly was the traditional home of Baník, and the new stadium is intended to allow a return to the place with which the football club has been historically linked. The footballers had to move to the City Stadium in Ostrava-Vítkovice because the original location no longer met the established conditions. However, the coexistence of footballers and athletes in a shared facility has repeatedly been described by city officials as quite problematic, unsustainable in terms of capacity, and in the long term is also considering further developments for athletics at the City Stadium.