AWD-Arena – Hannover

The World Cup safely under covers

Let’s talk about how to ingratiate yourself. The way the new AWD Arena – the erstwhile Niedersachsenstadion – nestles into and up to the landscape, for instance. With earthworks banked up alongside the West Stand, the edifice blends into the meadow landscape, eastwards, to where the Maschsee lies (frozen over in wintertime), towards which the slender silhouette tapers. There the edge of the stand is set deeper, symbolising openness and harmony with nature. Flatteringly. If ever it were to become fashionable to combine the terms ‘stylish’ and ‘close to nature’ when describing football stadia, it would be more than apt here. On 25 February 2003, with the demolition of the North Stand, work commenced on remodelling the venerable stadium of Hannover 96. In the process, the basic substance of the old stadium was preserved. First the pitch was extended up to the West Stand, then the other stands followed insuccessive building stages. The running tracks disappeared to enable spectators to be close to the action on the pitch. A pure football and event arena now stands at the Maschsee, offering a total of some 50,000 seats, including 29 VIP boxes and 1,241 business seats. The crowning achievement and true eye-catcher of the 64 million euro project is the roof, a stretched spoke construction. Like a shaped bicycle wheel rim into which a second inner ring is embedded, it can extend around the stadium’s asymmetrical bowl, held in place by steel cables. Altogether the roof construction surface is twice that of the former roofing, but does not apply any additional weight on the foundations (a specification imposed on the Schulitz&Partner architects’ design). The East Stand was completely rebuilt to include a VIP lounge, modern press centre and team rooms. Certainly a worthwhile effort: “Everyone has benefited from the reconstruction: the state, the city, the region, the fans and naturally the club. Hanover now has an ultramodern football arena,” says Martin Kind, President of Hannover 96. Something he can proud of. For right up until the end of the 1980s, the stadium was considered the second best in all of Germany, and at the latest on the 23 January 2005 opening celebration, one thing was clear to many visitors: this could once again be the case. The AWD Arena in Hanover has once again been given the chance to vie with the other German football stadiums for the No. 1 location. And if one asks FIFA, there’s no doubt whatsoever. Because on the occasion of the 2006 World Cup, the arena—which during the World Cup changed its name to the “FIFA WM-Stadion Hannover”—was awarded five matches. Four group games and the quarter-final extravaganza between Spain and France (1:3) took place here. This not only continued an old World Cup tradition in Hanover but also enabled it to be surpassed. During the 1974 World Cup, “just” four matches took place in the capital of Lower Saxony. Flattering, not only for the region, but also for the builders of the new stadium.