National Stadium Narodowy in Warsaw

In Narodowy Stadium the opening match of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championships was celebrated. By night, the façade is illuminated in Poland's colours red and white and the load-bearing structure of the roof forms a crown.

Architects: gmp, Architekten von Gerkan, Marg und Partner mit J.S.K. Architekten
Structural planning: schlaich bergermann und partner
Location: Aleja Ksiecia Józefa Poniatowskiego 1, PL–03001 Warschau

In 2007 an international architectural competition was held for a new Polish national stadium in Warsaw to host the UEFA European Football Championships in 2012. The scheme submitted by gmp in association with J.S.K. Architekci of Warsaw and schlaich bergermann und partner of Stuttgart was the preferred option.

The new structure is located over the solid rampart of the Dziesi ciolecia national stadium, which was constructed in 1955 from rubble from the wartime Warsaw Uprisings. The revitalization of this area as a sports park represents a milestone not only for the city of Warsaw but also for the whole country in terms of national identity. A condition imposed by the city was that the existing rubble-built slopes should be built over with as few interventions as possible.

The two lower levels of the new structure were therefore inserted into the topography without changing the top level of the slopes or the level of the existing pitch. The duality of a solid historic stone base and the new structure made of steel, glass and PTFE membrane externally visible only above rampart level gives the design an unmistakable character. The roof truss system adds a number of significant features to the familiar spoked wheel principle. Also unmistakable as a feature visible from a distance is the façade, made up of anodized expanded metal in the Polish national colors of red and white.

In 2013, the Stadium Narodowy won a bronze medal at the IOC / IAKS Awards. The jury was “particulary appreciative not only in terms of the technical solution, but also in terms of the image that a national stadium must communicate for the future. The lightness and dynamics of the stadium’s architecture are the result of successful synthesis of materials and contemporary structural design.”

Project data

Client/Operator: Narodowe Centrum Sportu Sp. z.o.o.
Size of site: 180,000 m²
Activity/Competition area: 204,000 m²
Spectator facilities: 57,065
Construction costs: Euro 350 million
Operating costs in 2012: Euro 6 million
Number of athletes/users in 2012: 15 events
Number of spectators in 2012: 995,584