MAGIC BOX ARENA

Project description

European Steel Construction Award 2013

The Grand Stade de Lille, renamed “Décathlon Arena – Stade Pierre Mauroy,” is one of the most multifunctional stadiums in Europe. At a time when sport is more than ever a spectacle, the boldness of the Lille stadium makes perfect sense. With its unique ability in Europe to transform its 51,000-seat stadium into a 30,000-seat Arena, it redefines usage, turning every event into an exceptional immersive experience.

An architectural manifesto redefining the stadium’s uses
The challenge was to design a structure where the spectator would be equally comfortable watching a football or basketball match, a concert, or an opera. To achieve this, it was essential that the entire stadium be covered. Thus, the roof opens in two halves along the longitudinal axis.
Next, it was necessary to imagine a retractable pitch to avoid damaging it outside of football or rugby matches, as well as a grandstand configuration that would bring spectators closer to the action for indoor team sports and cultural events, offering the closest proximity to the spectacle.

We envisioned retracting the northern half of the pitch and tucking 7,000 additional seats underneath, creating a 30,000-seat Arena in half of the stadium. A black velvet curtain, fixed on “patiences,” is raised by cables to the roof. It unfolds along the transverse axis of the field, isolating the southern part of the stadium from the northern section, called the “Magic Box.”

Three spaces in one: a revolutionary concept
The Stade Pierre-Mauroy is a true prototype of architectural multifunctionality. In a single building, it combines the functions of a 51,000-seat stadium, a 30,000-seat sports hall, and a performance venue. This hybrid model provides a sustainable response to territorial challenges by sharing infrastructure to maximize its economic and cultural impact.

Cutting-edge engineering serving architectural elegance
It represents a technical feat serving architecture. Two pre-stressed steel mega-beams support the mobile roof, made up of four interlocking elements, ensuring that, when open, the roof remains within the overall volume of the stadium. The southern half of the pitch, supported by two mega-beams, lifts on jacks to slide over the northern half of the pitch, revealing the “performance box.”

Its minimalist volume takes the shape of a polished pebble. The northern façade breaks the oval form of the stadium and rises vertically. Accompanied by a broad stairway parallel to the boulevard surrounding the stadium, it directs the spectator, marks the main entrance to the “Magic Box,” and integrates this large sporting venue into the urban fabric of Lille Metropole.

Iconic design serving the spectator experience
The project proposes a minimalist, compact, and legible design. The burying of the first tier of seating into the topography of the site minimizes the scale of the facility. The building’s compactness, resulting from optimized sightline curves, ensures that every spectator is always no more than 140 meters away from the furthest point on the pitch.

The stadium’s façades, made of a double skin, offer an iconic design with a façade in motion. By day, the translucency and reflection of the polycarbonate tubes harmonize the building with its environment, taking on the color of the sky. At night, the stadium’s presence is revealed by the diffraction of light through the polycarbonate tubes, transforming the stadium into an “urban lantern.”

A highly urban stadium
A large public, sports, and cultural facility located in the heart of the Lille Metropole, it adds real value for the local residents and provides significant attraction for the Lille Metropole on both a national and international scale.
The urban model, which places the stadium’s controlled enclosure in line with the façades, generates a vast plaza around the stadium, accessible seven days a week, becoming an integral part of the urban animation.

An exceptional immersive experience in all configurations
The very compact stadium provides optimal operation with all the amenities suited to different types of audiences and perfect management and differentiation of flows (athletes, artists, officials, VIPs, media, security, logistics).
It offers an exceptional customer journey, with a highly detailed approach to compactness and sightline curves, ensuring that spectators are always as close to the action as possible, whether for a football match, a basketball, handball, or tennis match, or a performance in the “Magic Box.”

The stadium meets the highest European and global sporting standards (FIFA, IRB, FIBA, IHF, ITF…). It adheres to the specifications of GEEM (Large Multi-use Establishments), which it helped to define, as the first multifunctional stadium in France.

Sustainable architecture for a positive territorial impact
Certified NF HQE and compliant with RT2012 standards, the stadium is part of an exemplary environmental approach: rainwater harvesting, photovoltaic panels, and a thermally efficient envelope. A true model of equipment economy, it embodies a sustainable response to the needs of a dynamic metropolis.

An unmissable cultural and sports destination
The Stade Pierre-Mauroy goes beyond its functional role; it has become a destination in itself, contributing to Lille’s international visibility. Major events like the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the 2018 Davis Cup, and the 2016 UEFA European Football Championship have found a fitting home here, reinforcing its status as a European benchmark.

With its three identities in one, it redefines the standards of multifunctional architecture and stands as a symbol of sustainability, innovation, and elegance. A feat that inspires