Belgrade, Serbia

Despite climbing 20 places in the FIFA Rankings since 2016, Serbia is currently without a true national stadium – the national football team play most of their home matches at Red Star’s Rajko Mitić Stadium in Belgrade.

We are working with Fenwick Iribarren Architects on a new, ambitious stadium design that will change the game for Serbia and its national team, while delivering a sustainable and economically viable national stadium for its people. The unique design of the stadium has been developed using four “rings” suspended by cables and features landscaped concourses that bring nature and sustainability directly into the action.

Built in the town of Surcin, 14km outside Belgrade, the National Stadium of Serbia will have a capacity of 52,000 seats, making it the largest in the country.

Our work is based around an underpinning sustainability framework, encompassing social, economic, cultural and environmental factors to promote growth and wellness. Our MEP experts have been driving the economic sustainability of the stadium, ensuring cost benefit for our client with an efficient services and systems design.

Our acoustic team are building a complex acoustic model using EASE software, ensuring the stadium’s open sides and membrane roof will generate a good atmosphere for the home support, while taking into account UEFA requirements for safety and crowd announcements.

All amenities are designed with wellbeing, community cohesion and diversity in mind. By creating accessible outside space, which is walkable by local communities, the benefits of the stadium will be extend beyond matchday attendance.

The pitch features a 10m gap behind goal lines and along touch lines, meeting UEFA minimum requirements while allowing constant C-Values to be maintained, ensuring optimum viewing quality for spectators. The fan experience will be complemented by state of the art audio visual technology, offering a fully connected matchday journey.

By employing a passive design strategy the National Stadium of Serbia will benefit from low operational energy and running costs. The cooling and heating system will be based on the technology of four-pipe chillers, which simultaneously provide heating and cooling. The system will allow residual heat, created in the cooling process, to be used to generate hot water for the heating circuit. The system will cover all the heating and cooling needs of the building.

A natural ‘green filter’ created by the natural planting on the concourse levels will improve air quality within the stadium, increases oxygen levels and provide a reflective ‘biophillic’ acoustic barrier.

The National Stadium of Serbia is targeting a completion date of 2024.