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A City Built Above the Stadium: Tammela Stadium

JKMM Architects

photographed by
Tuomas Uusheimo (unless otherwise indicated)
materials provided by
JKMM Architects
edited by
Youn Yaelim
background

SPACE May 2025 (No. 690) 

 

 

©Hannu Rytky 

 

 

Youn Yaelim (Youn): A long-neglected football stadium in the centre of Tampere has reopened following a decade-long design and construction process. What prompted this project?

Samuli Miettinen, Alli Bur, Harri Koski (Miettinen, Bur, Koski): The Tammela Stadium is one of Finland’s first football-specific venues and was built in the 1930s. Although it was modernised in the 1990s, by the 2010s it no longer met modern football league requirements, leading to the need for a replacement. The site remained undeveloped for a long time due to limited funds and economic challenges, but the city saw potential in preserving its historical significance while also populating the surrounding area. In 2014, the City of Tampere organised an architectural competition for a new stadium. The new Tammela Stadium, completed in 2024, consists of an almost 50,000m2 hybrid block, complementing the urban structure and consisting of 8 interconnected plots, including the football stadium, five residential buildings, a commercial centre, and parking facilities. The stadium accommodates 8,000 spectators for football matches and 15,000 people for concerts and other large-scale events. This approach aligns with Tampere’s urban renewal goals, prioritising sustainability and maximising land use. The stadium’s design encourages public transport use and is connected to district heating and cooling networks, further enhancing its integration within the urban fabric. The steel structures, stands and canopies of the old stadium were recycled to give structure to the city’s other football fields.

 

©Hannu Rytky 

 

©Hannu Rytky 

 

Youn: What were the main objectives...

 
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Architect

JKMM Architects (Samuli Miettinen)

Design team

Asmo Jaaksi (founding partner), Teemu Kurkela (fo

Location

Tampere, Finland

Programme

hybrid stadium (football and public event stadium

Gross floor area

stadium (without the football pitch) – 13,4

Building scope

B1, 11F

Parking

229

Structure

steel, cast-in-situ concrete, prefabricated concr

Exterior finishing

perforated steel cladding, glass walls, brick sur

Interior finishing

stadium – glass walls, spectator seats, fix

Structural engineer

Ramboll Finland Oy

Mechanical engineer

Granlund Tampere

Electrical engineer

Ramboll Finland Oy

Construction

Pohjola Rakennus Oy Suomi, YIT Suomi Oy

Design period

2014 – 2024 (competition – 2014, deta

Construction period

2021 – 2024

Client

City of Tampere

Landscape architect

VSU maisema-arkkitehdit Oy

Construction budget

43 million EUR

Samuli Miettinen
Samuli Miettinen is one of the founding partners of JKMM Architects. In his career as principal architect, Miettinen specialises in demanding public buildings. His design philosophy is deeply rooted in notions of a humane and socially conscious built environment. Miettinen served as a principal designer for the Tammela Stadium from 2014 to 2024.
Alli Bur
Alli Bur is JKMM Architects’ partner and an experienced architect. Bur has been working at JKMM Architects since 2013, with a diverse range of project experience. She served as the project architect for the Tammela Stadium during the construction phase from 2021 to 2024 and has acted as a project architect in numerous other challenging projects.
Harri Koski
Harri Koski has mainly worked as a project architect and lead designer for large-scale office buildings and shopping centres, including headquarters-level projects since 1995. His area of expertise is glass and steel structures. He has most recently applied this expertise as the project architect of the Tammela Stadium during the development phase from 2019 to 2021.
NO. 690 MAY 2025 PROJECT interview Tammela Stadium JKMM Architects Samuli Miettinen Alli Bur Harri Koski Finland Tampere hybrid stadium hybrid block housing commercial facility miniature city suspended cable structure roof
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