Allianz Stadium Vienna

A futuristically looking tunnel made of shiny silver aluminum leads into a green hell: the new Allianz Stadium of the SK Rapid team in Vienna evokes emotions from the very first moment. Not only the unusual appearance of the facility, but also the sophisticated infrastructure makes football a real experience here.

The construction of the stadium is a game of emotions. It begins with the very first design and is only definitively won when the last fan is happily seated in their usual place.

Architect Guido Pfaffhausen, as a German architect, was bold enough to design the new stadium for Rapid in Vienna. It quickly became clear why he was given this honor: he knows how to stir up a stadium. What the team needs for good performance. What makes fans happy. How to achieve profitability for the stadium and satisfaction for the operator. It's all a game of emotions - Guido Pfaffhausen knows the rules of this game. His own "playing field" is in the romantic orangery from 1912 in the historic industrial town of Zwickau. Twenty-five years ago, he co-founded the architectural firm Architektur Concept Pfaffhausen + Staudte GbR with garden and landscape architect Sylvia Staudte and specialized in the construction of large sports facilities and multifunctional halls.

Mr. Pfaffhausen, the new stadium certainly evokes huge expectations. How do you fulfill them?
Guido Pfaffhausen: The challenge with most projects is that the original hall is too small, but is literally boiling during a match. The question then is: Can we retain that energy, will the atmosphere be just as great in the new hall? This was also true for Vienna. But I promised to build a cauldron there, everything will be packed in and steep, to excite the audience. This is important because the spectator is the significant twelfth player at the back.

What makes a stadium a successful stadium and a game an unforgettable experience for fans?
GP: The mood is the most important thing. And the stadium must reflect your city, your team, your club. The stadium must become your stadium. It should not be some stadium that stands by the highway and can be played in by anyone, and a person doesn't even know which city they're in. That's why we prepared a document with the main principles for Rapid right from the start. We wanted to design everything to be packed in and steeply, so that one always feels the stadium is full. Visibility is also important, meaning that spectators can see the playing field from every seat, and not just the back of the fan in front of them. And of course, standard issues, such as escape routes, toilets, and barrier-free access, must be well designed. Interestingly, developers usually receive twice as many offers from builders for stadium construction than for other projects. Everyone wants to build a stadium; it’s much more exciting than, for example, a logistics center. And since I have always been a fan of this club, it was a great honor for me to build a stadium for them. My goal was to reflect emotions in the construction.

Vienna is different - especially when it comes to a football stadium. What extraordinary challenges arose in this case?
GP: Yes, there is a special situation in Vienna: the stadium does not lie on a road that leads to it purposefully; you cannot simply refer to it. But that suited us; we wanted to create something special. It was to be, as mentioned, the own stadium of Rapid. And we succeeded in this when we integrated a huge tube with a diameter of 20 meters into the facility on one side, which brings fans to the heart of the stadium and whose front side is dominated by the club's emblem.

What should we imagine it to be like?
GP: Essentially, the facility consists of two parts: the large tube with the emblem and the stadium itself, which we have called the green hell. We wanted to create a building bathed in light and in green color. In sports and football, one can work with colors. Since the club's color is green, the stadium is green. In the case of a gallery, a facility for cultural events, or a museum, I would think differently, but here we are strongly working with emotions. Now the stadium shines under the spotlight as a green gemstone.

The tube is the central space of the stadium. It contains VIP boxes, administrative areas for Rapid, fan shops, a central reception, and the museum Rapideum. To give the tube a modern expression, we decided to slope it in the front and cover it with glass. All side areas are smooth silver, like a spaceship. When it comes to material choice, we quickly found the right one. Several factors played an important role. The roof and façade had to look like one whole with a smooth transition – PREFA composite panel allowed for that. The high-quality cladding was carried out by Direktion Metallica, a subsidiary of the construction group STRABAG AG. The rounding, window connections, and details were indeed very demanding. The result is a dynamically and metallically looking building, in harmony with the green color and concrete. "A very successful horizontal skyscraper," commented one staff member of Rapid once. And she is right.

So aluminum met all the requirements?
GP: Yes, nearly 3,000 square meters of aluminum were used and the whole effect appears absolutely uniform. It looks good and lasts long. Long durability was a major theme; we anticipate that the stadium will look the same after many years. From the price perspective, it was also fine. It was a product that we all liked very much and did not threaten the budget. From experience, I know that when you have materials like PREFA products at your disposal, everything is much easier. In other cases, I only encounter a piece of metal and have to create something from it myself. But with PREFA products, many variants are already pre-thought-out and prepared.

The team, fans, operators - how can all opinions, moods, and expectations be unified?
GP: For that, you need a good team. The tender assignment required that the design and offer be submitted jointly by the construction company and an experienced architectural firm. From the beginning, a fixed budget was known, so no castles in the air could arise. We knew we had to handle our financial resources carefully and find out how to create something original even with a limited budget. But the cooperation with Rapid Vienna was excellent. They always knew what they wanted. The relevant project manager verified everything; however, we were always on the same wavelength. We did everything in cooperation, never anything without the consent of the other party. Rapid always respected the will of the fans. They are particularly important in Vienna; you cannot contradict their wishes, and I believe that it also worked well in this case.

To what extent could fans influence something?
GP: Fans could co-create the entire standing section in the stands. For example, we did not label the stands according to the actual cardinal directions, but as they were called before.
Everyone has the same place in the stands where they always stood, even though the new stadium was rotated 90 degrees. A feature I am very proud of is the preservation of the old floodlight mast of the former Gerhard Hanappi Stadium. As before, one can see the stadium from far away. The new roof structure is also striking, as the current building is larger and higher.

And are rationally designed paths and a thoughtful infrastructure what pleases fans?
GP: Yes, but we didn’t have to be that clever; Rapid was intelligent. Anyone who takes care of a top-class football club knows exactly what they need. The desire of the Rapid managers, and they told us this as well, was sophisticated infrastructure, purposefully designed paths, and diverse gastronomy. So now, the toilets are in the right place, and the stadium has themed gastronomy that also offers something Asian. It went so far that there is even its own currency. Since the stadium opened, the new currency is RAPID-MARI€, which quickly and easily replaced cash at the food stalls. It’s this microcosm, this experience, everything around it - not just the game itself. And we were able to contribute to that with our work.

What is your summary? Are you satisfied with the result?
GP: Of course, as a German, I was a bit nervous about designing and realizing such a large and important Austrian project. When I once got off the subway at St. Stephen's Square and walked down Kärntnertor Theater, I thought: "In this great city, you have such a great project. It’s a matter of honor, and no one can take that away from you."

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Project Name: Allianz Stadium
Country: Austria
Facility, Location: football stadium, Vienna Facade Type: PREFA aluminum composite panel
Facade Color: silver metallic
PHOTOGRAPHY: Cro