Project Wilmotte & Associés
Photos Miläne Servelle e Serge Deamilly
Courtesy by Wilmotte & Associés
Text Matteo Vercelloni

Winner of the international competition announced in December 2009 by the Ville de Nice, the new stadium of the ‘capital’ of the Azure Coast is by the studio Wilmotte & Associés.

It has been built in just two years, and it opened last August, as part of a vast planned redesign of the zone of access to the city from the valley of the Var River. The competition program, conceived as an urban completion plan (PIA), envisioned connection to the city in the years to come with two streetcar stops of the streetcar line running from Promenade des Anglais to the airport, and then all the way to the stadium, beside the Musée National du Sport and a new mixed-function zone (44% residential), to activate synergies with the nearby historical city. Located about 5 km north of the airport, in the Saint-Isidore Sud district of the Var Valley, the new stadium – also built to host the matches of the European soccer championships in 2016 – replaces the old Stade du Ray, loved by generations of local fans, built in the 1920s inside the urban fabric. Named Allianz Riviera, for the name of its sponsor, the new stadium offers over 35,000 seats, distributed on the four tribunes known as “Ray” as a tribute to the older facility, “Segurane” from the name of the local heroine, “Garibaldi” in honor of the Hero of the Two Worlds, who was born in Nice, and finally “Popolare Sud.” The large sports complex designed for soccer and rugby can also host large concerts, expanding its capacity on such occasions to about 45,500 with the use of the playing field. A new and elegant macro-landmark of the city, the architectural structure stands out, at first glance, for the design of the structural skin that wraps the stands and defines the roof at the top, leaving the central part en plein air, over the playing field. Paced by a harmonious wavelike movement that follows the trajectory of the beating of the wings of a seagull, the architectural skin of the stadium is composed of a series of structural layers that start from the external ETFE membrane, which is translucent, allowing 90% of the light to pass, and then connects to the white metal structure and the successive wooden pattern below around the reinforced concrete stands.  The unusual and successful mixed metal-wood structure and the intentional transparency of the external membrane seek a strong indoor-outdoor relationship, getting beyond the concept of an introverted, closed stadium space, generally fortified to jealously protect the spectacular content from the prying eyes of those without tickets. The geometry of translucent geometric scales of the membrane and the light metal support structure remind us of the wings of a cicada, one of the symbols of the inland territory and nearby Provence. With a surface of about 49,500 m2, the architectural skin of the stadium and its hybrid wood-metal structure set records as the largest radiant structure of this kind ever built, also capable of flexing in case of the seismic activity that happens in this geographical zone. Particular attention has been paid to ecocompatible choices: the first ‘energy-positive’ stadium, the Nice facility is supplied with its own photovoltaic power plant using high-performance solar panels on the outer edge of the roof, for a surface of about 7500 m2. An ecological power system capable of supplying most of the energy needs of the stadium, with a natural ventilation system that takes advantage of the winds of the valley to guarantee internal comfort. A geothermal system provides cooling and heating for the indoor spaces. The roof recoups rainwater to irrigate the playing field, gathering it in four basins under the surrounding parking areas.