Arena Pernambuco - Originality and strategic sustainability
Arena Pernambuco - a private stadium with unique and modern design - will be built in a great natural appeal area. The audience will be entertained with bars and retail outlets strategically installed in all sectors, which will lead to attracting new fans and increasingly bring families to the field, enabling new experiences and extending leisure options before and after matches.
The main peculiarity of the project and what makes it unique among other projects of other host cities of the 2014 FIFA World Cup is the fact that it is not inserted into a consolidated urban fabric. The challenge was to create a building that is tightly integrated with the natural environment, and secondarily to establish a relationship of unity with the future urban development planned for the area.
In this sense, the building has a topographic characteristic in the form of elevation, always lower than existing surrounding hills, which gives the sensation of "emergence" as something naturally "sprung" on the soil, and not something artificially made.
Unlike vertical facades, the upward geometry of the external closure allows a new relationship with the people and future buildings, reducing the monumental impact usually caused by works of this size.
Arena Pernambuco is designed to be a "multipurpose" Arena, since it has capacity to host events of various kinds, such as concerts, festivals, conferences, and trade shows, as well as sporting events. So the space will be a great and attractive urban center with residential, commercial, educational, and entertainment areas, which will be of great importance for the economic growth and expansion of the metropolitan area of Recife.
Sustainable aspects of the project:
Sustainability is a vital element and a strong design component in Arena Pernambuco, starting with the characteristics of the land on which the stadium was built: an area of about 27 hectares, with great natural appeal, including preserved parts of the original Indian deforestation. The arena has a rainwater drainage system for reuse and heating with solar panels installed on the roof. Each bathroom, closet, and other facilities have water saving devices. The whole arena is equipped with devices such as water saving equipment and photovoltaic panels installed on the roof to allow the generation of electricity from solar energy.
The project also includes the use of natural light and ventilation, as well as the preference for trees and shrubs adapted to the local climate and rainfall, eradicating the need for irrigation systems, and generating larger water consumption savings. As Arena Maracanã, Arena Pernambuco project was conceived aiming at the certification LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).
ETFE is used for the first time in Latin America
Another special characteristic of Arena Pernambuco project is the use of ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene), material used for the first time in Latin America. The lateral finish of facades of Arena Pernambuco consists of a system of pneumatic cushions made of ETFE films with edges attached to a metal frame by aluminum profiles.
The combination of transparent and opaque films, as well as the application of various types of screen printing on the surface confers a constant dialogue between internal and external areas, allowing a diverse light control inside the stadium, according to the different uses under the membrane, such as mitigating the effects of heat gain by the surface of the lateral closure.
Another sustainability detail is that the membranes made with this polymer are 100% recyclable, with low coefficient of friction and non-stick properties, preventing dirt particles and dust from being deposited on the surface.
The film used by Vector Foiltec for manufacturing pneumatic cushions for Arena Pernambuco is a high performance fluoropolymer film developed and manufactured by AGC Chemicals in their unit in the city of Chiba, Japan. It is a UV resistant material suitable for long term use in outdoor areas.
Moreover, the facades have openings that allow the use of natural ventilation and help to control the internal temperature, contributing to the comfort of users.
The use of Naming Rights in Arena Pernambuco
With the increasingly common reforms and building of stadiums and arenas in Brazil, and the increased revenue for clubs, new stadiums start marketing an increasingly common trend in the United States and Europe: naming right contracts.
Arena Pernambuco, which will host matches of the Confederations Cup and the World Cup, is one of the arenas to sign a naming right agreement with the brewer brand of Grupo Petrópolis, Itaipava, which officially named the stadium as Itaipava Arena Pernambuco. Sponsorship agreements of brands based on naming rights demonstrate the market's confidence in the public-private partnership model, besides being a great sports marketing strategy for businesses.
Itaipava Arena Pernambuco, which will host matches of the Confederations Cup and the World Cup, is one of the arenas to sign a naming right agreement with the brewer brand of Grupo Petrópolis, Itaipava.
In Brazil, this is the third case of naming rights of stadiums, and a vital element to the investment of brands in the region of Recife is betting on its future tourism potential, as well as the upcoming development around it, since the results will make it host large events, which is an advantage for brands as a generator and provider of services.
