IOC/IAKS Award für beispielhafte Sport- und Freizeitanlagen 2015 | IPC/IAKS Auszeichnung für barrierefreie Sport- und Freizeitanlagen 2015

Friends Arena is Sweden's new national stadium. It is built to house all types of events and seats 50,000 for football games, while concerts and other events can accomodate up to 65,000 spectators.

The arena was inaugurated in 2012, and is designed by C.F. Møller Architects in collaboration with Krook & Tjäder architects for the Swedish Football Association, Solna Stad, PEAB, Fabege and Jernhusen.

The arena has a retractable roof made up of two enormous plates that can be opened and closed within twenty minutes. This allows for events to be held in a pleasant climate all year round. The arena is thus suited for all types of playing fields, such as grass, clay, gravel, ice or water - no matter the season.

Friends Arena is a fifth-generation arena, marking the start of the development of a whole new quarter including housing, offices, commercial spaces and sports facilities in Solna, Stockholm. Today, this quarter includes not only the arena, but also thousands of workplaces, serving as one of the largest commercial venues in Scandinavia. It features both new infrastructure and new residential areas. Friends Arena is the central generator of this development.

The motivation for the bronze award for the Friends Arena at the IOC/IPC/IAKS Awards includes:

"The Friends Arena in Stockholm is impressive as a modern stadium whose multifunctionality ensures intensive use. Besides serving as a stadium for national events, it can host concerts and the like - all-year round, thanks to the retractable roof. The steeply sloping, compact grandstands and the intelligent overall design of the arena combine to create the ideal scenario for great events."