Groupama Stadium and Training Centre

Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France

  • Typologies

    Stadiums, Training Facilities

  • Building Activities

    Concerts, Soccer

  • Services

    Architecture, Wayfinding

  • Completion

    2016

CHALLENGE. As befits one of the best French football teams of recent times, with seven consecutive Ligue 1 titles between 2002 and 2008, Groupama Stadium – previously known as Parc Olympique Lyonnais – is designed to represent and fuel the future aspirations of the club, but also of the city of Lyon itself.

The design objective for Olympique Lyonnais was to create a building which is a perfect marriage between nature and technology; a stunning stadium that respects its surroundings. The 59,186-capacity stadium is a word-class venue, equipped with all the necessary features required by UEFA to host international tournaments and events, beginning with the UEFA Euro 2016 Finals. The design takes inspiration from the unique relationship that Olympique Lyonnais’ fans have with their stadium; for example, the North and South Stands have been designed to respect and facilitate the OL fans’ tradition of singing to one another during games, creating a cacophony of noise and support.

INNOVATION. The experience of the supporter is always at the heart of a stadium, and is expressed in this design in three key ways: the approach; the discovery; and the intensity of the game or event. In order to maximise the atmosphere created by the fans, the stadium is enveloped by a huge roof structure, creating a canopy effect which echoes the local forests; protecting the spectators in the stands, amplifying the noise within and extending over a large part of the podium surrounding the stadium. This covering allows the match day experience to be extended, creating new spaces for fans to come together outside of the venue.

The roof also helps to create a civic space which can be used throughout the year, and that can be used for a range of activities and purposes, including cafes, stalls and pop-up events. The attraction and draw of this space is in its ability to serve a range of uses for the football club, as well as for the community of Grand Lyon, all year round.

 

“Groupama Stadium is a beautiful stadium, with an exceptional atmosphere that begins outside the enclosure and continues all the way through to the event inside. All the club’s aspirations, in particular to build a real home where the team felt like it belonged, have been perfectly realised by Populous. They have created a place where people can spend quality time with their families, whether that’s at a game of football, a rugby match, a concert, or just strolling around the parks and boulevards outside.”

Xavier Pierrot / Stadium Manager

IMPACT. The stadium itself is designed to offer maximum flexibility in usage, with the ability to host a range of sports in addition to football, including international rugby and concerts with capacities from 20,000 to 60,000. World-class facilities are available for every fan and visitor to the stadium, with bars, meeting rooms, kitchen facilities, banqueting halls, more than 100 executive suites and eight corporate lounges. In 2016, Groupama Stadium was rated as the best stadium in the UEFA Euro 2016 Finals, by French magazine Le Moniteur.

At night, the roof lights of Groupama Stadium announce the new stadium from afar. A key feature that has been specifically designed to reflect the essence of Olympique Lyonnais, the city of Lyon, and the famous Fête des Lumières, the stadium has become a beacon for OL.

Services Provided
Architecture

Groupama Stadium is a 59,186-seat world-class venue equipped with all the necessary features required by UEFA to host international tournaments and events. Populous’ design takes inspiration from the unique relationship that Olympique Lyonnais’ fans have with their stadium. For example, the North and South Stands have been designed to respect and facilitate the OL fans’ tradition of singing to one another during games, creating a cacophony of noise and support.

In order to maximise the atmosphere created by the fans, Groupama Stadium is enveloped by a huge roof structure, a canopy inspired by the local forests, which protects the spectators in the stands and amplifies the noise they create. This covering, which at 53,700m2 is one of the largest in the world, extends over a large part of the podium surrounding the stadium, creating new spaces where fans can come together outside the venue. The roof also helps to create a new 30,000m2 civic space which can be used throughout the year for a range of activities and purposes, accommodating cafes, stalls and pop-up events, to serve both the needs of the football club and the wider community of Grand Lyon.

Inside, the stadium itself has also been designed to offer maximum flexibility in usage, with the ability to host a range of sports in addition to football, including international rugby and concerts with capacities from 20,000 to 60,000. World-class facilities are available for every fan and visitor to the stadium, with bars, meeting rooms, kitchen facilities, banqueting halls, 110 executive suites, and eight corporate lounges.

Wayfinding

Populous was briefed to design a wayfinding and signage strategy for the 59,186-capacity Groupama Stadium and surrounding car parks that was clear, distinctive, and evocative of the Club’s unique identity and position at the top of French football.

The Groupama Stadium presented a number of unique challenges for the design team in answering this brief. With a venue of this size and scale, the wayfinding and signage design had to allow visitors the freedom to enjoy the atmosphere of the stadium, without being troubled by navigational concerns.

The aesthetic quality of Olympique Lyonnais’ visual identity was also integral to the design strategy. Signage had to work across daylight, low light, and artificial light, in outdoor conditions and luxury suites. The overarching approach was to use big target signs that could either be painted directly to target functions or, where necessary, be integrated harmoniously with the surroundings.

Inside the stadium, the space demanded clear, instantly-recognisable target signs, without filling it with clutter. This was achieved by the economical use of signs painted on architecturally-available surfaces, with signage elegantly suspended only when necessary.