Plans for a stadium to be used for football, Series A rugby and other events such as concerts, have been unveiled and presented to the Municipality of Venice, Italy.

Maffeis Engineering and sports architecture and design practice firm Populous have been commissioned for the design and engineering work by a consortium of companies including Costruzioni Bordignon, Fincantieri Infrastrutture and Ranzato Impianti, which was awarded the contract for the project in March 2024.

The stadium has plans for 18,500 seats and is part of a major sports masterplan built in Tessera in the Bosco dello Sport, a multifunctional, 116-hectare hub in the northern part of the city. The facility’s design is inspired by the surrounding landscape, with curved lines that follow the wider masterplan, interacting with the nearby arena and sports center. The perimeter line also follows the overall organic layout: its clean structure is ideally placed within the Sports Forest like a pavilion in a garden.

The facade features a composition of vertical elements that rise upward in a regular pattern, creating a visible backdrop to the upper section of the seating bowl. This makes the stadium structure light and airy, allowing a view above the top of the stadium bowl. The crescent-shaped podium gently embraces the stadium itself, becoming a strategic part of the structure, and is designed to house parking areas and other services. The seating bowl develops in a semi-continuous section on the south, east, and north sides. Populous’ specialized designers have shaped it to offer optimal sightlines during matches.