New San Mames Stadium and multi-sports facility

The new stadium replaced the former San Mamés, which had stood for nearly 100 years and was widely known across European football as the Cathedral of Football.

Its location, marking the edge of Bilbao’s Ensanche urban grid and overlooking the Ría, positions the building as an architectural piece that must assert itself with strength, clarity and respect towards the surrounding urban fabric. The project enhances circulation spaces by imbuing them with spatial quality and forging a strong relationship with the city and its context.

The structure consists of two clearly differentiated elements: on the one hand, a system of composite frames designed to support a 7-metre perimeter cantilever; and on the other, the roof structure, featuring a 50-metre cantilever supported by the aforementioned frame system.

In response to the Club’s requirement to avoid relocating matches, and given that part of the new stadium’s footprint overlapped with the old one, IDOM devised a phased construction strategy. This made it possible to transition from the old to the new stadium in just three months.

After two years of construction of the first phase, the old stadium was demolished at the end of the 2012/13 season. Throughout the 2013/14 season, matches continued as normal while works on the South Stand were completed.

While the atmosphere of the old Cathedral lives on in the stands, the new stadium incorporates contemporary elements that communicate the activity inside to the people of Bilbao.

The permeable façade, primarily intended to clearly define the building envelope and create a visually recognisable identity, is composed of vertical louvre-like elements. These are dimensioned to provide the appropriate degree of transparency while ensuring that the space can be considered exterior for evacuation purposes.

The façade comprises more than 2,700 louvres, forming an envelope whose visual appearance changes depending on the viewing angle. This striking effect is achieved through a single geometric type and a high level of engineering development.

From different viewpoints, the building appears constantly shifting. The distinctive façade element is a louvre measuring 5.40 by 1.20 metres, with a double-curved geometry. The façade includes over 2,700 identical units, arranged across five levels.

This dynamic and ever-changing image is further emphasised by the façade lighting. Each “sail”, 5 metres high and rotated by 90 degrees, is illuminated by 17 individually controlled DOT XL-6 RGB luminaires, mounted on custom-designed lacquered aluminium profiles.

The use of LED technology throughout the façade lighting reduces energy consumption by up to 50% compared to traditional systems, while significantly extending the lifespan of the installation and reducing maintenance requirements to a quarter of typical levels.

The 306-degree multimedia façade turns the new stadium into a vast luminous landmark over the Ría de Bilbao — a major urban beacon.

With a capacity of 53,332 spectators, the stadium meets UEFA’s highest “Elite” category standards. The complex also incorporates complementary uses including a museum, retail areas, restaurants, cafés, event spaces, meeting rooms and conference facilities.

The new sports centre integrated within the San Mamés Stadium building, promoted by Bilbao City Council, plays a key role in the development of the San Mamés facilities area.

It will be the first municipal centre in the area to feature a 50-metre swimming pool. Together with two additional leisure pools, a sauna and a Turkish bath, this enables a high degree of versatility, accommodating everything from elite sports training to lessons and group activities.

Sharing the same footprint, a multi-sports facility is distributed across three levels within the stadium as follows:

• Level -1: Fitness room, accessed from the lower floor, with views over the pool area located on Level -2.
• Level -2: The main functional programme is concentrated here. It includes the reception and control area, leading to a central corridor that provides access to all sports facilities. There are two multi-purpose activity spaces, changing rooms and restrooms, and internal stairs and lifts connecting to the activity room on Level -1. Changing rooms for the aquatic area act as a transition into the main pool space. The pool zone occupies the largest area, featuring a 50-metre indoor pool and two additional pools for wellness and children’s use. The main pool has been designed in accordance with FINA high-performance standards. Its 50-metre length supports both recreational and competitive training, and includes a movable bulkhead, allowing reconfiguration into two 25-metre pools for combined sports and instructional use. The depth varies from 1.80 metres in the competitive zone to 1.40 metres in the leisure and training areas.
• Level -3: Restricted access, housing the technical installations for the pools and staff changing facilities.