FC Barcelona has announced that Japanese architects Nikken Sekkei and Spanish studio Pascual i Ausió Arquitectes have won the hotly-contested tender to design the new Camp Nou, following a final meeting of the judges today (8 March).

The jury – made up of five FC Barcelona members, three members from the Catalunya’s architecture association and a city council representative – praised the winning proposal as “open, elegant, serene, timeless, Mediterranean and democratic.”

The design, which has yet to be unveiled in full, was also chosen for paying a powerful tribute to Francesc Mitjans’ original 1957 design while better facilitating circulation around the stadium and ensuring diverse urban usage. It will increase the ground's capacity to 105,000.

The unsuccessful rival bids came from design teams led by AECOM, Arup Sport, Gensler and Populous.

Work on the new Camp Nou is scheduled to start in the 2017/18 season and end in the 2021/22 season.

The design criteria states that all seats will be covered and protected from adverse weather conditions, the new roof must measure more than 47,000sq m and all seats must have a perfect view of the pitch, with the first tier being made steeper. Hospitality facilities will be improved and new hi-tech LED screens added.

The high-profile renovation is the biggest component of an ambitious €600m (US$651.9m, £467.4m) sports district called Espai Barça, which also includes the New Palau Balgrana multi-use arena, designed by US architects HOK.

Nikken Sekkei are one of Asia’s leading architectural and engineering studios. Their previous stadium projects include the Saitama Super Arena, the Big Swan Stadium in Niigata and the Tokyo Dome – all in Japan.