The world's first open arena is loved by professionals and the public alike - The National Athletics Centre has been awarded a Construction Excellence Award

In just 28 months, the ZÁÉV Zrt. and Magyar Építő Zrt. were used to build one of Hungary's most outstanding sports facilities, the National Athletics Centre, which will host the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

The special qualities of the site have been preserved

The construction of the world-class sports facility on the brownfield site has preserved the exceptional qualities and natural values of the Danube River bank. The impact of the project, through its long-term use, goes far beyond the World Cup: the area around the stadium is a place for atmospheric riverside walks, a sports and recreation venue open to all.

Project launched by explosion

Construction of the National Athletics Centre began in November 2020 based on the designs of NAPUR Architect Kft. (lead designer: Marcel Ferencz DLA), with the project management and technical supervision tasks being performed by Főber Zrt. and Óbuda Group .

One of the most spectacular events during the first phase of the work was the demolition of the nearly 60-metre-high VITUKI tower on the work site. We also captured this on video.

The project was characterised by a fast pace and the high level of professional expertise of those involved. The monolithic structural work was completed in June 2021 on the Épszerk-Pannónia Invest Építőipari Kft. and Épszerk-Pannónia Invest Építőipari Kft. buildings. rel="noopener"> Épszerk-Pannónia Invest Építőipari Kft., Bayer Construct Zrt. and Gedi Építő Kft..

The roof solution has also attracted international attention

By December 2021, the 48 pre-assembled steel roof structure elements had also been put in place. The 840-metre ring formed by the diamond-shaped elements attracted the attention of the international professional community. The roof structure, designed by KÉSZ Csoport, was shortlisted for the Institution of Structural Engineers Structural Awards 2024 award, which recognises the world's most impressive structural designs.

Spectators also love the stadium

In June 2023, a family festival was held to inaugurate the facility, which then hosted the biggest annual competition for athletes. The sports centre was not only appreciated by architects and the construction industry, but also quickly became popular with the public. The facility, which made its debut with the World Athletics Championships, took an impressive fifth place in the vote for the 2023 International Stadium of the Year, competing against 35 other sports facilities. The Hungarian sports facility came out on top in the competition for facilities built for non-football matches.

One professional recognition after another

The National Athletics Centre has won the Stadium and Arena and the Sustainable Sports and Recreation Building categories in the finals of the 13th Architizer A+Awards, one of the world's most prestigious architectural competitions.
The professional recognition is completed by the ÉVOSZ Award of Excellence in Architecture. The National Athletics Centre was awarded the highest recognition of the Hungarian construction industry by the jury in the category of Public Buildings / Sports and Recreation.

Top-class sports facility for recreational sports

From today, a plaque proclaims the building's excellence. The inauguration ceremony of the Hall of Excellence plaque was held at the National Athletics Centre. The project, which was designed and built with transport and flood protection in mind, was also appreciated in detail by the profession. The project, located in one of Budapest's brownfield areas, has provided athletes with a world-class sports facility and competition venue, while the community has gained a sports and leisure complex with unrivalled panoramic views.

After the World Athletics Championships, the stadium was transformed in a unique way.

In the spirit of openness, the temporary upper stands were demolished and replaced by a 15,000 square metre covered and floodlit panoramic leisure park with a running track and outdoor training facilities, free of charge for all. This makes the National Athletics Centre the world's first "Open Arena" with new features, serving recreational sports every day of the year after a world event.

The Robinson Bridge has also been awarded a plaque

In 2023, the Robinson footbridge, located next to the National Athletics Centre, was also awarded the Építési Vállalkozók Országos Szakszövetsége and the Building Science Association's Award of Excellence. This project, like the stadium, has contributed greatly to showcasing the hidden assets of the area.

Standing on the northern part of Csepel Island, the bridge's pier is located on the artificial island of Osos, which divides the Soroksár branch of the Danube. This graceful structure is a 275 m radius horizontal arch bridge, built by the generals ZÁÉV Zrt. and Magyar Építők Zrt.. As subcontractors, the specialists of Hídépítő Zrt., A-Híd Zrt., HSP Hídépítő Speciál Kft. and Acélhidak Kft. assisted in the realisation of the project. The implementation was carried out by FŐBER Zrt. and Óbuda-Újlak Zrt..

Achievement rewarded by the construction industry as a whole

A ceremony was held to inaugurate the Construction Excellence Award. The welcoming speech was opened by Tibor Tolnay, the rapporteur of the ÉVOSZ Construction Industry Award Committee, who recalled that the Construction Industry Award was founded twenty-four years ago. In the meantime, the panel deciding on the awards has been enlarged, in which all sectors of Hungarian design, construction and realisation are represented, which gives the award even more prestige. He recalled some of the details of the evaluation of the award. The stadium, both architecturally and technically, has been designed and built with great care. Its ability to serve a complex function was demonstrated in an extraordinary way by the 2023 World Athletics Championships"
. He added that the technical and technical standard of the construction, the building services and electrical systems guarantee economic efficiency and operability.

"...Not just a stadium built"

In his welcome speech, József Dormán, Deputy CEO of ZÁÉV Zrt., highlighted the complexity of the project. Not only was a stadium built, but also a 15-metre underpass on Kvassay út, a 40-metre wide pedestrian underpass, a 1 km long flood and bank protection, landscaping around the stadium, and various utility replacements and upgrades. This was combined with the construction of the stadium and the Robinson Bridge linking Csepel and Ferencváros. A further project element was the construction of the athletics training track and its support facilities. József Dormán presented a number of figures to give an idea of the scale of the project.

The stadium has a useful floor area of 67680 sqm and the foundations were built with 1200 tonnes of reinforcing steel and 13 thousand cubic metres of concrete. Two thousand six hundred piles were drilled over a length of 42 km. For the structural works, 4,300 tonnes of reinforcing steel and 40,000 cubic metres of concrete were used. The roof's reinforced steel structure consists of 48 diamonds, each weighing almost 100 tonnes. The roof structure of the stadium is supported by a tensioned rope structure, unique in Hungary. The combined weight of the roof exceeds 18,000 tonnes.
The sports field has been built asymmetrically, which allows spectators to follow the events closer during the running and jumping events. Almost 7 sq m of turf has been laid.
In his closing remarks, the Deputy CEO of ZÁÉV thanked all the subcontractors and the professionals of the consortium partner.

Message value project

The National Athletics Centre carries a great message: 'we have joined the world's top', said Zoltán Szikszai, CEO of Magyar Építő Zrt.. International recognition has confirmed this. The speaker gave a number of examples to illustrate the scale of the project before thanking the designers, suppliers and all those involved in the realisation of this huge project.
The steel structure of the stadium could be used to build three
Lanchids. The lengths of cable used would link London and Budapest back and forth. Four of the world's largest airliners could fit in the stadium.