SAP Garden | 3XN Architects

SAP Garden echoes the same democratic ideals as its historic surroundings, uniting sports and local community in a state-of-the-art sports arena. It is the new home of ice hockey team EHC Red Bull Munich and basketball team Bayern Munich while three additional ice rinks serve as training and public facilities. Built on the site of the former Olympic Velodrome and with Frei Otto and Günther Benisch’s iconic Olympic Stadium as its neighbour, the new SAP Garden arena is informed by the legacy of its location and surroundings. The 62.500m² arena project is designed by 3XN in collaboration with CL MAP and landscape architects Latz + Partner for client Red Bull.

The bowl can gather up to 10,700 spectators for ice hockey and 11,500 for basketball. Beyond the sports facilities, the arena offers three levels of VIP areas, merchandise shops, a large restaurant, a gaming room, offices and conference rooms, a parking garage and a public rooftop terrace.

Melting into its historic context
Adding a new structure into Behnisch & Partner’s protected Olympic Park landscape posed a complex design challenge: how to respect the integrity of the park while also accommodating the significant spatial needs of the world class sport facility? To solve this, the design team concealed the arena’s three additional ice rinks underneath an artificial hill that organically continues the park’s existing pathways and landscape design. The arena itself is oval-shaped and asymmetrical in both its height and shape, forming an organic appearance which together with a green roof lets the building melt into the park and the cityscape.

“The Olympic Park is both in its architecture and landscape designed around the human scale,” says Ammundsen. “The sports facilities are nestled in the green terrain which rolls and undulates around the now iconic structures. SAP Garden is designed with careful consideration for these existing characteristics to both preserve and also add a new element to the uniquely harmonious relationship between the buildings and the park.” 

A unique geometry

The arena’s façade is dynamic and welcoming with vertical pilaster strips that swing upwards and accentuate the glass-panelled entrances. Each of the 260 pilaster strips are unique in their geometry with the largest being over 18 metres tall and weighing one ton. This gives the building a dynamic façade expression – at the same time simple and complex.

Place for the public

SAP Garden is designed as a catalyst for activity – both on game days and ‘off days’. As a sports arena, it is a destination for the many with the ability to house ice hockey, basketball and a multitude of third-party events. On days with no official activities, it remains a place full of life. Beyond serving as training facilities for the professional players, the arena’s three additional ice rinks are built from the vision of improving the local sports infrastructure. All year round the rinks are open for schools, clubs and the public to use, becoming a place that gathers and strengthens local grassroots sports.

Above ground, sports fans can browse the merchandise shops while the e-sport community gains a home with the ambitious Gaming Garden – the new gaming hotspot for southern Germany. A restaurant with both indoor and outdoor service lets life unfold between the internal and external spaces while the top of the arena is a new destination for Munich with a rooftop terrace that invites everyone to enjoy the views over the park and cityscape.

A unique, full scope arena design

SAP Garden is at the forefront of arena designs, shaped to create an intense atmosphere and fan experience while being adaptive to its shifting purposes. Switching between an ice rink and a basketball court is a complicated matter as the two are different sizes. To accommodate this and ensure courtside seating for both sports, a unique stand-system has been developed. The existing stands can be shifted in height and slope while mobile stands are added for basketball games, placed on top of the covered rink, to create more seating.

3XN’s scope also includes the interior design where the use of digital media and light creates a flexible colour palette that can change the ambience of the arena in line with the branding or occasion. As such, the interior is centred around variety of atmospheres and identities. Areas and rooms are individual in their design which lets the users have unique experiences throughout the building. At the same time, all spaces have small design elements in common that tie the building together as a whole, creating an interior that is both cohesive and playful.

Joint Venture Partner and Local Architect: CL MAP

Engineers, Structures: Buro Happold, Unger Stahlbau

Engineers, MEP: Buro Happold, Vasko und Partner

Engineers, Fire: HHP    

Landscape Architect: Latz + Partner

Façade Consultant: Buro Happold, Frener & Reifer

Electrical Consultant: Buro Happold, KLAUSS

Light Consultant: Licht Kunst Licht

Physics Consultant: Buro Happold, PMI

Acoustics Consultant: Buro Happold, PMI

Photography: Angelo Kaunat, Franco Casaccia