German Venue News: Munich Arena Impresses Decision Makers, Merkur Spiel-Arena Gets Solar Panels

Munich Arena Refined

Munich Arena, the music-first 20,000-capacity project for Germany’s south, has impressed the local decision makers in their latest meeting.

The municipal design advisory committee (“Gestaltungsbeirat”) of the city of Freising met on Monday, Sept. 22, where the current progress of the Munich Arena concert venue was presented.

The project has been further developed and refined over the past months, integrating suggestions from past meetings, and refining the design.

Members of the committee took note of the arena’s architectural quality, landscaping, and successful urban integration of the project into its surroundings.

It is expected that the open spaces will be an attractive destination for people, even on non-event days. The planned media surfaces for visitor wayfinding and entertainment purposes were also noted with approval; as was the beer garden planned in the outdoor areas surrounding the arena.

City council members underlined that visitor comfort is evident in every detail – and that the concert arena will be a true asset for the city and the region, according to a press release from the SWMunich Real Estate, creators of the project.

In May it was announced, that Live Nation is joining forces with the Munich Arena project team as a long-term strategic partner.

The arena is being designed by Populous, one of the world’s leading architecture firms for arenas and stadiums, in collaboration with HENN (Munich) as the local executive architect.

Its exoskeleton is inspired by the Bavarian flag, making the building unmistakable. Part of the design idea was to make arena, hotel, parking structure, and outdoor spaces interlock seamlessly, creating a coherent campus.

Inside, it’s all about the music. “Unlike multi-purpose venues, every aspect of the arena is tailored to create the best possible concert experience. Fans can look forward to excellent sightlines, outstanding acoustics, and welcoming hospitality areas that enhance the overall atmosphere,” the press release continues.

At the same time, the project aims to set new standards in sustainability, becoming the first concert arena in Europe to pursue DGNB Gold certification – an internationally recognized sustainability seal for environmentally friendly and resource-efficient building and operations.

Photovoltaic systems, green roofs, additional trees, and the park-like outdoor areas are all part of those plans. underline the sustainable approach. This is complemented by a modern mobility concept.

Munich Arena is being built with more than €400 million ($472 million) in private investment. The construction phase is estimated to generate an economic impact of around €390 million ($460 million), and once it opens, a further €350 million annually are expected to be generated for the local economy.

See: First Look At Munich’s New Climate-Neutral 20,000-Cap Arena

7,000 Square Meters Of Solar Panels For Merkur Spiel-Arena

Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany, has received a new photovoltaic system on its roof, which is expected to cover 90% of the stadium’s annual energy requirements.

Spread out across 7,000 square meters on Merkur Spiel-Arena’s roof, it is one of the largest solar installations on a stadium roof in Germany.

One of the challenges of this project was the requirement to maintain a comparatively low system weight of less than 5 kg/m².

Rheinland Solar, which received the commission for the panels, used an innovative adhesive system to achieve this, securely attaching a total 2,872 solar modules using approximately 3 tons of silicone adhesive, according to a press release from D.Live, operators of Merkur Spiel-Arena.

The maximum output of this new photovoltaic system is 1,500 kilowatt hours (1.5 megawatts peak), which is expected to cover 90% of the arena’s energy requirements for event operations with solar energy.

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