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while not as large as it’s sister stadium in johannesburg, cape town’s new stadium in green point has
a carefully considered, subtle design created by the german architecture studio gmp. designboom
recently visited the site guided by some of the local architects who worked on the project, robert silke
from louis karol architects and henri comrie from comrie+wilkinson.

the stadium is located in green point at the north end of the city center. the location of the design was
much debated among the designers involved and the public of cape town. many residents of the city
were opposed to having the stadium in this location because they thought it may interrupt their views
of the ocean or the nearby table mountain. because of this feedback, the designers were very conscious
of creating a stadium which had a minimum impact on its environment. the final design reflects this
effort through its low profile and very neutral exterior. despite its 55m height, the skin of the structure
  makes the building appear smaller. while other stadium’s in the country were focused on more iconic
facades, the cape town stadium focused more on the interior.

the podium surrounding the stadium was based on the site’s dimensions rather than the stadium’s
exterior form. however while the site of the stadium was up for debate, the urban design team worked
on multiple schemes for each of the possible sites. the more nestled layout was selected, creating a more
dynamic link tot he surrounding area. the podium and stadium cover 10 hectares of land and the whole
precinct around the stadium covers 18 hectares. the designers created space for future development on
the exterior of the stadium, including locations for retail outlets and other vendors.

the glass roof that covers the seats in the stadium is composed of a frosted glass over the main section
and transparent glass at the innermost ring. this roof acts as a partial cover from the sun and rain, but it
also serves acoustic purposes. structurally the roof also serves as a ballast for the façade. this skin is
made from a fiberglass mesh that is actually silver in colour and changes tone and transparency with
changes in light.

http://www.gmp-architekten.de


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cape town stadium from downtown
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robert silke & henri comrie
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textured site map
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