#TDA24: Winners unveiled at Design and Development Awards 2024

Estadio Santiago Bernabéu redevelopment in Madrid was named the Project of the Year while Chris Lee, Managing Director, Populous EMEA, scooped the Outstanding Achievement Award at the 6th TheStadiumBusiness Design & Development Awards 2024.

The ceremony took place during TheStadiumBusiness Design & Development Summit 2024 at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester in front of an audience of senior industry figures.

Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, the home of Real Madrid CF, also won the Façade & Exterior Award, while Sphere in Las Vegas was also a double award-winner by picking up the top prizes for Destination and, through Sphere Entertainment and 7thSense, AV Fan Experience.

Other award-winners on the night included RLB – Rider Levett Bucknall (Industry Partner), F1® Drive at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (Concourse Activation) and Paris 2024 aquatic centre – Paris La Défense Arena / wooarchitects (Innovation). There were also awards for The NinetyThird by Qatar Airways at The O2 (Hospitality & Premium) and the ArenA super battery at Johan Cruijff Arena (Sustainability Delivered), while Accessible Facilities & Sensory Room at Breffni Park (Cavan GAA) picked up the Community Project Award.

“I’m very honoured and humbled to receive this award,” Lee said after accepting his Outstanding Achievement Award. “But I’m most humbled by this amazing industry we are part of. This award is for our clients, the fans who use the venues, and above all our team.”

The Design & Development Awards recognise leadership, innovation and achievement in the design, development, construction and refurbishment of of sports and entertainment venues globally.

Ian Nuttall, Founder, TheStadiumBusiness, said: “These Awards are about celebrating the professionals involved in the delivery of the next generation of stadia. Since 2017, these Awards have recognised the best in venue design, development, construction and refurbishment across the global sports and entertainment sector.

“Well done to everyone! This year’s finalists include some of our industry’s top minds, achievers, and standout venues – each of them should be incredibly proud of what they’ve accomplished. And of course the crowned winners deserve that little extra credit and kudos for moving our sector forward another step.”

THE 2024 WINNERS:

The Winners and Shortlisted Nominees in each category are as follows:

DESTINATION AWARD

– sponsored by SEREGH

Winner: The Sphere, Las Vegas

Shortlisted nominees:
adidas arena (Paris)
GMHBA Stadium (Geelong)
Intuit Dome (Inglewood)
Marvel Stadium (Melbourne)
The Sphere (Las Vegas)
Thunder Ridge Nature Arena (Missouri)

FAÇADE & EXTERIOR AWARD

Winner: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu – Real Madrid CF

Shortlisted nominees:
Bramley-Moore Dock – Everton FC (Merseyside)
Estadio Santiago Bernabéu – Real Madrid CF (Madrid)
Gewiss Stadium – Atalanta FC (Bergamo)
Intuit Dome (Inglewood)
Kai Tak Sports Park (Hong Kong)
SM Mall of Asia Arena (Manila)
Suoyuwan Stadium (Dalian)

INDUSTRY PARTNER AWARD

Winner: RLB – Rider Levett Bucknall

Shortlisted nominees:
Anthony James Partners
Dawnvale Group
Cox Architecture
Egis Group
Machete Group
RLB – Rider Levett Bucknall

AV FAN EXPERIENCE AWARD

Winner: The Sphere Las Vegas (Sphere Entertainment/7thSense)

Shortlisted nominees:
Glass floor at BMW Park (FC Bayern Basketball/ASB GlassFloor)
Las Vegas F1 / Smarter Navigation (PAM)
LED wall at Adele World (Live Nation/Munich Messe/Solotech)
LED walls at Asian Games (Hangzhou/Olympic Council of Asia)
NOVA Armrest at Intuit Dome (PixMob)
The Sphere Las Vegas (Sphere Entertainment /7thSense)

CONCOURSE ACTIVATION AWARD

Category Winner: F1® Drive at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Shortlisted nominees:
F1® Drive at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Caesars Superdome refurbishment (New Orleans Saints)
Coke Studio Crypto.com Arena
Cusack Stand refurbishment (Croke Park)
EBar Beerwall at The Den (Millwall FC)
Jimmy McIlroy Stand refurbishment (Burnley FC/RDA/Levy)

COMMUNITY PROJECT AWARD

Category Winner: Accessible Facilities & Sensory Room at Breffni Park (Cavan GAA)

Shortlisted nominees:
Accessible Facilities & Sensory Room at Breffni Park (Cavan GAA)
Carbon-neutral Canon Medical Arena (Sheffield)
Community legacy at Parque Estadio Nacional (Chile)
Remembrance Garden at John Smith’s Stadium (Huddersfield Town FC)
The Green Roof at adidas arena (Paris Entertainment Company)
AELTC Community Tennis Centre (All England Club/Langstaff Day Architects)

INNOVATION AWARD

Category Winner: Aquatic Centre/Paris Olympics 2024 (Paris La Défense Arena / wooarchitects)

Shortlisted nominees:
BIM + 5G smart stadium construction at Kai Tak Sports Park (Hip Hing Engineering/Populous)
Cosm at Hollywood Park (SoFi Stadium/HKS)
DreamSeat at W&S Open (Lindner Family Tennis Center, Cincinnati)
Energy savings at Coca-Cola Arena (Dubai)
Palasport Genoa revamp (Cds/CONI/Renzo Piano BW/Vespier Architects)
Paris La Défense Arena / wooarchitects – Paris 2024 aquatic centre
Vertical Turf Farm (Real Madrid FC/SENER/L35)
Wi-Fi 6E at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (AMB Sports and Entertprises/HP Aruba)

HOSPITALITY & PREMIUM AWARD

Category Winner: The NinetyThird by Qatar Airways at The O2

Porsche Tunnel Club at MHPArena (Vfb Stuttgart)
Roof Deck hospitality at M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore Ravens)
The Mezz at AO ArenA
The NinetyThird by Qatar Airways at The O2
Tynecastle Park Hotel (Hearts FC)
Yas Marina Paddock Club (Ethara/BDP)

SUSTAINABILITY DELIVERED AWARD

Category Winner: ArenA super battery (Johan Cruijff Arena)

Shortlisted nominees:
100% renewable energy at Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas Raiders)
All-(renewable)-electric arena (Co-op Live/OVG)
ArenA super battery (Johan Cruijff Arena)
Net Zero 2050 Carbon Pledge (P&J Live/Positive Planet)
PreZero Arena: Bundesliga’s first Zero Waste venue (TSG Hoffenheim)
‘Road to Zero’ Italian Cup Final (Sport e Salute/Stadio Olimpico)

PROJECT OF THE YEAR AWARD

Category Winner: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu redevelopment (Madrid)

Shortlisted nominees:
Caesars Superdome refurbishment (New Orleans)
Co-op Live (Manchester)
CPKC Stadium (Kansas City)
Cusack Stand – Croke Park (Dublin)
Euro 2024 makeover – MHPArena (Stuttgart)
Estadio Santiago Bernabéu redevelopment (Madrid)
Nassau County International Cricket Stadium (New York)
Paris 2024 redevelopment – Stade Yves-du-Manoir (Paris)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Category Winner: Chris Lee, Managing Director, Populous EMEA

#TDA24 JUDGING PANEL

Hundreds of nominations were evaluated by TheStadiumBusiness.com editorial team to create the Shortlists, with final decisions taken by an independent panel of industry figures including:

• Alain Belsoeur, Head of Stadia Committee, Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP)
• Andy Broad, Managing Director, Wire and Sky
• Peter Bryan, Partner, TMG Partners
• Hannah Buckley, Senior Facilities and Projects Manager- Womens Pro Game, Barcays Womans Superleague and Championship
• Ali Celikkiran, Stadium and Facility Operations Director, Galatasaray SK
• Hannu Helkiö, Founder, Managing Director, HH Sportsbase + Venues
• Stephen Hogg, Managing Director, d&b audiotechnik
• David Keirle, Chairman, KSS
• Lisa Knights, Group Communications Director, Bristol Sport / Ashton Gate Stadium
• Kamil Kukulka, Executive Board Advisor, ERGO ARENA Gdansk / Sopot
• Josef Lageder, Senior Portfolio Manager Sports & Entertainment, SKIDATA
• Bill Mannarelli, Independent Consultant, Dipl. -Ing. Architekt
• Henk Markerink, Chairman & Former CEO, Amsterdam Arena, Sportstad Heerenveen
• Stephen Lord, CEO, Kojo
• Javier Martinez, Chief Executive Officer, JMTZ Sports & Entertainment
• Ian Nuttall, Founder, TheStadiumBusiness
• Andrea Santini, Stadium Manager, Sport e Salute (Stadio Olimpico)
• Ruth Shilston, Technical Director, Mott MacDonald
• Kate Simkiss, General Counsel, Eden Park Trust
• Marie Smyth, Head of Venue Business, Croke Park / GAA
• Mika Sulin,Chairman, Sport & Live Vision
• Natasha Thiebaut, COO, Forward Associates
• Pete Watts, Managing Director, Rockvolt
• Guy Wickett, Project Manager – Stadium, Crystal Palace FC
• Derek Wilson, Founder/Principal, WilsonSEA

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Congratulations to all the recipients – your Winners’ press kits and logos are on their way to you.

More insights into this year’s Winners will be posted onto TheStadiumBusiness.com in the coming weeks.

And here’s to another fantastic batch of new venues and innovations in 2025!

>> More photos from the evening are available on our TheStadiumBusiness Flickr feed here.