RAILO - football in the polar circle

A new multi-purpose building was completed in Rovaniemi in July 2015. It houses a stand for 2,000 people as well as sportsmen’s changing and washrooms. It is an essential part of a central sports arena in the city centre of Rovaniemi. Despite the short summer in the Polar Circle, they play Finnish Premier League football there. Rovaniemi football club has given an excellent performance in front of the new stand.

As basis for the reconstruction, architect Alvar Aalto designed the Reindeer horn city plan for severely destroyed Rovaniemi 1946. The central sports arena forms a reindeer's eye in the city plan.

The statuesque multi-purpose building shows far to the city surrounded by fells. The main trusses with steel framework and plywood upholstery form the zigzag façade of towards the northeast. The structure form a powerful visual motif changing, like a kinetic sculpture, depending on the lighting comfort and visual angle.

Seen from the arena, the graded stand with a concrete structure creates a fell landscape dotted with colorful seats and wind nets. The upper stand is divided into three sections, which creates an intense atmosphere. The division of the stand can also be used to keep visitor and home team supporters apart in international matches.

The concrete walls of the entrance building display modulor footballers in real size. Athletes arrive at the building through an entrance tunnel. On the field level, underneath the stands, there is an 80-meter gateway along which the wash and locker rooms, dance classroom, warehouses and service rooms are located.
Together with the concrete elements, the steel frameworks of the main trusses and their standing supports form a structure with a width of over 90 meters in parallel with the arena.