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Interview

#TDS22 Guest Q&A: YTL Arena’s Une Jurkstaite

Featured image credit: YTL Arena

Featured image credit: YTL Arena

Ahead of TheStadiumBusiness Design & Development Summit 2022, Une Jurkstaite, experience manager at YTL Arena, provides an update on the new facility currently under construction in Bristol.

The YTL Arena Complex, slated for completion in 2024, will be anchored by the 17,080-capacity arena, which will sit in the Central Hangar of the Brabazon Hangars in the north of Bristol.

The complex’s other two hangars will be transformed into a Festival Hall and The Hub. The Festival Hall will host conventions and exhibitions, with The Hub to serve as a year-round venue incorporating a visitor attraction, leisure, workspace and food and drink offerings.

Jurkstaite joined YTL Arena in February after previously serving as chief business officer at Zalgiris Arena in Kaunas, Lithuania. In her new role, she is helping grow YTL Arena’s fan database and ensure each event at the venue sells to its targeted full capacity.

TheStadiumBusiness: What’s exciting you in the field of stadium/arena design at present?

Une Jurkstaite: “I’m excited to see how venues are adopting innovations and immersive experience trends, and how venue design and operational decisions address sustainability goals and empower stadiums/arenas to create a positive impact on the community and environment.”

TSB: What’s in the pipeline for YTL Arena over the next six to 12 months?

UJ: “We are very excited for the next six to 12 months at YTL Arena Bristol. We will be working with our main contractor through the technical design phase, and into the demolition and construction phase as we begin to transform the Brabazon Hangars into the number one live destination for the South West.

“Before that transformation begins, the Hangars have been able to provide the space and availability for a number of TV and film productions, including ITV’s Sanditon, Netflix’s The Last Bus, and Amazon Prime’s Alex Rider.

“They have also been the ideal venue for live production rehearsals, including Queen + Adam Lambert’s Bohemian Rhapsody Tour, Cirque Bijou’s Platinum Jubilee performance, and more. We will be ensuring that our delivery programme allows us to continue accommodating these types of events for as long as possible.”

TSB: What are you most looking forward to about the Summit?

UJ: “I look forward to catching up with colleagues and tuning into fresh and critical industry insights.”

Explore the future of stadium design with Une Jurkstaite and 400+ stadium industry leaders – exclusively at #TDS22.

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