Arena Design
The structure was designed by DLA Ellerbe Beckett, Ove Arup & Partners, and Austin-Smith:Lord and described by Clare Hartwell as "a huge soulless sports and entertainment complex, grafted onto the back of Victoria Station." The arena is sited in air rights space over the station and was constructed without disrupting use of the station. The original plans included a glass tower which was not built. It has a multiplex cinema, a multi-purpose arena and multi-storey parking.
A large truss measuring 105 metres spans the roof. Reinforced concrete is used to increase sound insulation. The upper parts of the building are clad in purple-grey with green glass. The arena was opened on 15 July 1995.
The arena was one of the first indoor venues in Europe to be built following the traditional American sports arena layout of 360 degree seating, and is the only arena in the UK to have this feature (London's O2 Arena also has 360 degrees seating, but only on its lower tier, whereas the Manchester Arena features it on both tiers). Other European indoor venues built to the same concept include the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Arena Zagreb in Zagreb, Spaladium Arena in Split, Belgrade Arena in Belgrade, O2 Arena in Prague, and O2 World Hamburg in Hamburg.
Read more about this topic: Manchester Arena
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