PanStadia & Arena Management magazine interviewed John Rhodes, director of Sports and Entertainment based in HOK’s London office, about current trends in stadium and arena design.

When it comes to arena design, how do you arrive at a final concept?

JR: Good design is a team endeavour. It’s vital from the outset for the design team to listen carefully to key stakeholders: from the local community to the investors, and from the boardroom to the fans. This collaborative approach helps design teams reach the best solution and improve a project’s chance of success.

When thinking about a new facility, the design should be informed by several factors including the potential event calendar, context, climate and culture. The team needs a deep understanding of how the building operates in relation to the site. A project’s deliverability also is based on having a realistic view of what types of events, and how many, the facility will attract, as well as the project’s budget aspirations.

Considering these different parameters, amongst others, will start to create opportunities for solutions and begin to define the character of a building on the way to arriving at the final concept. In my experience, a shared, strong concept always makes a project more deliverable and enjoyable.

What are the major challenges of arena design? And how do these differ from stadium design?

Stadiums tend to be larger than arenas and the technicalities of scale often impact the structural response to the building. In many ways, though, arenas are more complex buildings because they need to meet multiple uses for a variety of groups. With diverse event programs and quicker turnaround between events, arenas need to provide features required for flexibility, including access to the event floor, enhanced roof-loading capacity, greater environmental control and high-quality acoustics within the event space.

In contrast, traditional outdoor stadiums tend to be more focused on a house team, or specific event type, with fewer supporting supplementary events. The design is less complex.