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The striking new home for Spanish football side Atletico Madrid has hosted its first match – a 1-0 win over La Liga side Malaga.
The club invested a reported €300m (US$360m, £265m) on the 68,000 capacity Wanda Metropolitano, replacing the Vicente Calderón Stadium – its home of over 50 years.
Spanish architecture practice Cruz y Ortiz were responsible for the project. Rather than building a new stadium from scratch, they were tasked with renovating and expanding the existing Estadio Olímpico de Madrid – a 20,000-seat athletics venue built in 1994.
Parts of the original concrete stand have been incorporated into the new stadium, with much of the remainder demolished in order for new stands to be added, more than trebling the capacity.
“Our aim was not to recreate the famous atmosphere or appearance of the Calderón,” the studio’s co-founder Antonio Cruz told CLAD. “This was a new proposition, and our responsibility was to find something new to help the club take another step forward. At this moment, Atletico are already one of the top teams in Europe, and this stadium can take them to the very top.”
Cruz said the biggest challenge was unifying the existing elements of the Estadio Olímpico structure with the newly constructed ones.
“Our answer was to cover it with a new roof,” he said. “It brings everything together as one building. We’ve adopted a new technique never used before to make a canopy membrane – using an exterior steel and double height compression ring, an interior traction ring and two sets of radial cables. It’s the most innovative part of this project.”
The open tensile structure, built by construction firm FCC, weighs around 6,336 tons, and the membrane occupies a surface area of 83,053sq m.
Advanced technology has also been integrated into the new stadium, including three jumbo screens, a videomapping facade on the exterior of the stadium, and 1,200 wifi elements to ensure easy internet access.
“The club wanted advanced technology from the beginning,” said Cruz. “We enjoyed and appreciated that challenge. We were set the target of building one of the five best stadiums in the world and a building that can be used long into the future, hosting top national and international finals.”
Other features of the stadium include a fan plaza open on matchdays, where spectators can enjoy music, entertainment and interviews with notable club figures. A retail megastore will be among 16 commercial outlets, and a club museum is also planned.
Atletico were permitted by La Liga to play their first three games of the season away from home, allowing workers to add the final touches to the Wanda Metropolitan before it officially opened in mid-September.
New stadiums are also in the pipeline for La Liga rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid, with architecture firms Nikken Sekkei and gmp architekten, respectively, designing those projects.
The striking new home for Spanish football side Atletico Madrid has hosted its first match – a 1-0 win over La Liga side Malaga.
The club invested a reported €300m (US$360m, £265m) on the 68,000 capacity Wanda Metropolitano, replacing the Vicente Calderón Stadium – its home of over 50 years.
Spanish architecture practice Cruz y Ortiz were responsible for the project. Rather than building a new stadium from scratch, they were tasked with renovating and expanding the existing Estadio Olímpico de Madrid – a 20,000-seat athletics venue built in 1994.
Parts of the original concrete stand have been incorporated into the new stadium, with much of the remainder demolished in order for new stands to be added, more than trebling the capacity.
“Our aim was not to recreate the famous atmosphere or appearance of the Calderón,” the studio’s co-founder Antonio Cruz told CLAD. “This was a new proposition, and our responsibility was to find something new to help the club take another step forward. At this moment, Atletico are already one of the top teams in Europe, and this stadium can take them to the very top.”
Cruz said the biggest challenge was unifying the existing elements of the Estadio Olímpico structure with the newly constructed ones.
“Our answer was to cover it with a new roof,” he said. “It brings everything together as one building. We’ve adopted a new technique never used before to make a canopy membrane – using an exterior steel and double height compression ring, an interior traction ring and two sets of radial cables. It’s the most innovative part of this project.”
The open tensile structure, built by construction firm FCC, weighs around 6,336 tons, and the membrane occupies a surface area of 83,053sq m.
Advanced technology has also been integrated into the new stadium, including three jumbo screens, a videomapping facade on the exterior of the stadium, and 1,200 wifi elements to ensure easy internet access.
“The club wanted advanced technology from the beginning,” said Cruz. “We enjoyed and appreciated that challenge. We were set the target of building one of the five best stadiums in the world and a building that can be used long into the future, hosting top national and international finals.”
Other features of the stadium include a fan plaza open on matchdays, where spectators can enjoy music, entertainment and interviews with notable club figures. A retail megastore will be among 16 commercial outlets, and a club museum is also planned.
Atletico were permitted by La Liga to play their first three games of the season away from home, allowing workers to add the final touches to the Wanda Metropolitan before it officially opened in mid-September.
New stadiums are also in the pipeline for La Liga rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid, with architecture firms Nikken Sekkei and gmp architekten, respectively, designing those projects.
Private hotel owner and developer HVL Hotels will open a new luxury resort and tourism
destination called Laval Hunter Valley in the second half of 2027 in Pokolbin, Australia.
The annual wellness festival dedicated to wellbeing, culture, longevity and human connection,
called Alma, will be hosted by Rocco Forte hotel, Verdura Resort in Sicily, Italy.
Capella Hotel Group has appointed Feisal Jaffer as chief development officer as the company
ramps up its global expansion of both its Capella and Patina brands.
People taking GLP-1 weight loss medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound
may be losing weight, but they’re also becoming less physically active, according to new
research presented at the ENDO 2026 annual meeting of the Endocrine Society
Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Capital has made a binding, fully financed
€1 billion
offer to acquire Pierre and Vacances SA, the European holiday resort operator behind the
continental European Center Parcs business.
Global retreat trade show, Synergy The Retreat Show, has launched a resource called The
Source, which hosts an open-access online Transformation Series programme.
The Standards Authority for Touch in Cancer Care (SATCC) charity has announced its first five-
day Living with Cancer and Beyond retreat, which will be held at Carden Park Hotel and Spa in
Cheshire, UK, between 1 and 5 September.
Patmos Aktis, a Luxury Collection Resort and Spa, has opened in Greece, with a renovated and
rebranded wellness offering called Ansana Wellness and Spa.
The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, an Autograph Collection property in Hawaii, US, has opened its
22,000 sq ft indoor-outdoor Spa at Mauna Kea as the final step in the property’s overall
renovation, which has cost more than US$180 million (€166 million, £140 mill
The UK spa review and discovery platform for consumers, the Good Spa Guide, has announced
it will host the Good Spa Guide Awards 2026 during an event on 16 November at Sopwell House
Hotel in St Albans, UK.
