Foro Italico Tennis Stadium

Rome, Italy

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Foro Italico Tennis Stadium

Rome, Italy

Firm

Sycamore

Type

Hospitality + Sport › Stadium

STATUS

Concept

SIZE

100,000 sqft - 300,000 sqft

BUDGET

$10M - 50M

The proposed project remodels the grandstands, following the increase in capacity to 12,000 seats. The new roof as a light sheet of paper, with all the slender pillars and emergency stairs, as well as connoting the new architectural aspect of the Central Tennis Stadium, are part of the entire park project. Through the adjustment of the escape routes, the relationship of the ground attack between the stadium and the park itself has been changed. The design idea aims to enhance the regulatory constraints, converting the presence of a greater number of emergency stairs and escape routes into architectural elements.

The escape routes and stairs, architectural elements very present in the general composition, are proposed through two different solutions; one for the north grandstand and one for the south grandstand, characterizing the façade with a harmonious movement created by the ramps of the different stairs, always in compliance with the current safety regulations.

The Project Elements.
In its general complexity, dictated not only by the technical solutions but also by the distribution of entry and exit routs as well as activities and intended uses, the project is the result of a simple design thought, the genesis of complex elements, but deriving from an essential geometry, with its own identity and recognisability.
1.The Roof
The roof, as previously mentioned, is a homogeneous surface shaped according to the grandstands of the stadium. The design idea is inspired by the lightness of a sheet of paper supported by slender linear steel elements, with an apparently casual arrangement, like the trees of a spontaneous wooded area.
The main idea of the roof was not to limit it to the sole function of covering the stadium, but to extend beyond the limits of the same and include the external areas of the park to:
-cover the escape system outside the stadium,
- be an element of integration of the park project, creating open / covered areas.
A length of 42 meters and a width of 25.60 is the size of the central void of the roof, which will then be covered with two mobile elements to ensure, in case of rain, the total coverage of the stadium.
2.The Pilars
The steel pillars with a circular section, of varying dimensions, support the roof. All the new stairs will also be anchored to the pillars with a bracing function. The solution adopted allows us not to see bracing elements that would conflict with the idea of the free slender linear pillars.
Other steel pillars, with a non-structural function, will be used as canals to serve, in part the electrical and special system, some to integrate the descendants of rainwater, then collected in storage tanks.
This apparently random set of elements contrasts with the large trees that surround the park of the Foro Italico and respect the randomness of a spontaneous wooded area.
3.The Grandstands
The conformation of the current stadium has been extended longitudinally for two main reasons:
-On the one hand, for requirements imposed by the competition announcement, that is not to extend the stadium towards the hill of Monte Mario and not to visually impact the Foro Italico Park.
- On the other hand, guaranteeing the new seats in the area of the two ends, which are the positions with the best visibility for a tennis stadium.
These large openings allow spectators to have views towards the park, the Monte Mario hill and the city skyline, as shown in the diagrams. The openings on the 4 sides of the stadium offer a perception of the place, enhancing the structure itself and its recognisability.
4.The Stairs
Among the elements that break with the geometric simplicity of the project, the large stairways, located in correspondence with the south and north ends of the stadium, play an important role in characterizing the new central tennis stadium. They are entrusted with the task of restoring a monumental aspect, so as to dialogue with the architecture of the Foro Italico, reinterpreting the materiality and the perception of lightness in a contemporary key. The need to ensure a greater number of emergency escape routes for fire regulations requirements are therefore enhanced and exalted.
5.The Outer Skin
The outer volume of the stadium stands is covered with an external skin that masks the structures of the stands in harmony with the naturalistic context of the Foro Italico park and the green background of the Monte Mario hill. This cladding is made with elements in resin and wood powder of different sections. This solution also allows us to mask the plant engineering part.