Tammelan Stadium

Ariel View of Stadium - photo by Hannu Rytky

For a country with pretty low density cities¹ like Finland still has some excellent examples of urban design. This is not universal by any means, many parts of Espoo for example are just hard to walk and not designed for anything but cars.

Location

However in Tampere the newly completed Tammelan Stadium designed JKMM and commissioned by the City is a great example of urban design. It’s an urban football stadium that holds 8,000 seats with space for 15,000 person concerts. But it also contains apartment blocks, shops and parking so is fully mixed use. An important sporting and cultural location right in the beating heart of the city.

It’s easy to get there by public transport and it keeps the Ilves football team that calls the ground home in the heart of the city contributing to the cities life in every sense.

It also manages the scale well enough that it fits in well it doesn’t stand out like many stadiums and this is and advantage given it’s location.

Street View of Stadium - photo by Hannu Rytky

The incorporated apartment blocks run beside along the long sides of the stadium and vary in height. The stadium meets UEFA category 4 requirements with a suspended roof over 100m long on both sides giving unobstructed views of the field for every seat. With sloping pillars at the corners structurally the apartments and stadium are independent. The end sides are glazed to open the stadium up more to the daylight. There is parking under the pitch I guess for the residents and/or for customers to the commercial spaces.

A hybrid building a little like Markthal Market by MVRDV but much less shiny and with more practical apartments. It’s a lovely hybrid design which is embedded into the city the project won the Finlandia Prize in 2024.

⚲ location: 61°30’01.9”N 23°47’05.9”E

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