The new soccer cathedral
Athletic Club de Bilbao's old stadium, over 100 years old, home to one of Europe's great football clubs and known as “the cathedral of football,” makes way for a new stadium recognized at the 2015 World Congress Stadium in Qatar.
Located practically in the same place as the old one, the new stadium, which has Category 4 status – the highest awarded by UEFA – was built in two phases, in such a way that it allowed the team not to have to play away games.
Projects, Contract
The location of the new stadium as the end of the Bilbao Ensanche Urban Project, offering a privileged view of the estuary, turns the building into an architectural piece that manifests itself with strength and assertiveness, but at the same time with respect for the other buildings that complete that area of the city. From this reflection arises one of the first aspects taken into account in its design, such as the conception of the built volume as an urban building, in relation to others and not as a mere sports facility.
In the stadium bathrooms, they were installed in a row Bologna Sinks by Bathco belonging to the rectangular porcelain collection, simulating with the red wall, the team's crest.
