MTK – Uj Hidegkuti Nandor Stadium

Building a community is at the heart of the design concept of the New Hidegkuti Nándor Stadium. Due to its unique architectural design, the stadium provides the atmosphere of a real arena in spite of its lower, 5000-seat capacity. On account of the outstanding design solutions of this “football-capsule” a brand new building type has been invented.

Both sport and architecture are able to connect people and establish a community. MTK Sports Club was founded in 1888. Since then, its football division has become Hungarian Champion 23 times playing a significant role in the football life of Hungary. Meanwhile the building also functions as headquarters of the club and is suitable for other sports activities or events than football too.

During the design process the main challenge was to create a real space for the community despite the relatively small capacity of the stadium.

The New Hidegkuti Nandor Stadium, named after the famous football player of the Golden Team, is located on the site of the former MTK Stadium in an industrial suburb of Budapest. The old building had been demolished due to its bad condition and obsolete functional relations. The new pitch was built on the very spot of the former athletic track preserving its position under the street level. However, we turned it into the north-south axis and slightly changed its size as well, in order to meet the requirements of modern football stadiums. Regarding its low capacity and the restricted opportunities of the narrow site, the stands were set opposite to each other along the west and east sides of the pitch.

The building is drawn back from Hungaria Boulevard so an elegant public square welcomes the guests in front of the main entrance.

Arriving from the street fans are able to move straight to the east stand as a clear and spacious way leads them there. The main volume of the stadium is joined to the west stand. VIP, media areas, players’ zone and the new headquarter of the club were set in this four-story building part. Bars, restaurants and other commercial areas are set on the southern part of the stadium to serve the public throughout the whole year.

Designing a stadium for lower capacity generated innovative architectural solutions.

The external appearance of the building is divided into two different parts by a characteristic, slanting, concrete plate. The volume for public use is set under the plate, while the roof of the stadium is situated over it. The roof with a membrane sheeting tensioned to a steel skeleton creates the dynamic shape of the building. Its energetic lines evoke the light upper body of a car. This effect is also emphasized by the ribbon-like section over the main public entrance. The volume under the slanting plate with its sharp, folded edges reminds us to an origami that blends well with the industrial environment of the stadium.

This architectural concept also appears in the design of the inner surfaces around the pitch. In This way the stadium bowl is created by the union of the two stands opposite each other and the consciously formed masses along the north and south sides of the football pitch. This acoustically rated, closed seating bowl is able to guarantee the same experience that is generally expected from stadiums designed for ten thousand guests. “Football capsule” draws attention to the importance of applying unique architectural solutions instead of the boring routine ones in the case of small-sized stadiums.