Winners unveiled at TheStadiumBusiness’ Design & Development Awards 2023

The winners of TheStadiumBusiness Design & Development Awards 2023 were announced this evening at Emirates Old Trafford.

The Awards were launched to recognise leadership, innovation and achievement in the design, development, construction and refurbishment of major sports venue facilities globally.

The Awards ceremony took place during TheStadiumBusiness Design & Development Summit 2023 at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester in front of an audience of senior industry figures.

TheStadiumBusiness team thanks the industry for its input in compiling and collating the shortlists.

Ian Nuttall, Founder, TheStadiumBusiness, said: “The Awards are about celebrating the professionals involved in the delivery of the next generation of stadia. For the last nine years, we have honoured some of the world’s top venues and this year was no exception.

“Congratulations to everyone who reached the podium. Winners included our industry’s leaders, achievers and stand-out venues, who should all be very proud of their achievements.”

JUDGES:

Hundreds of nominations were whittled down to create the shortlist, judged by an independent panel of industry figures including:

• Tony Booth, Vice President of Sales (UK & EMEA), Signature Systems
• Hannah Buckley, Senior Fac & Projects Mgr Womens Pro Game, The FA Group (Wembley Stadium)
• John-Paul Considine, Head of the Premier League Stadium Fund, The Football Foundation
• Steve Davies, Chief Operating Officer, Chester Races
• Agne Grendele, CEO, National Stadium in Vilnius
• Adam Horodecki, Esports & Sales Manager, Forum by Nowy Styl
• Lisa Knights, Group Communications Director, Bristol Sport/Ashton Gate Stadium
• Kamil Kukulka, Executive Board Advisor, ERGO ARENA Gdansk/Sopot
• Ian Nuttall, Founder, TheStadiumBusiness
• Ruth Shilston, Strategic Director, RWDI
• Ben Veenbrink, Managing Director, The Stadium Consultancy
• Guy Wickett, Director, EnTodo Project Management
• Debbie Power, Associate Director – Interior Design, KSS
• Gené Willis, Head of Operations, Bath Rugby Club
• Derek Wilson, Founder/Principal, WilsonSEA Architects

THE 2023 WINNERS:

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

DESTINATION AWARD

Category Winner: Miami Grand Prix upgrades (USA)

Shortlisted nominees:
NBA Park in Gramado (Brazil)
Workers Stadium revamp (China)
Tennis Paradise: The Indian Wells Tennis Garden (USA)
National Athletics Centre (Hungary)
District E powered by Ticketmaster, Capital One Arena (USA)

FAÇADE & EXTERIOR AWARD

Category Winner: LED Exosphere at the Sphere, Las Vegas (USA)

Shortlisted nominees:
Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium – Big Lotus (China)
State Farm Stadium’s new approach for Super Bowl LVII (USA)
Santiago Bernabeu’s remodelled exterior / Real Madrid FC (Spain)
Bramley Moore Dock brickwork / Everton FC (UK)
Emirates Stadium wrap / Arsenal FC (UK)

INDUSTRY PARTNER AWARD

Category Winner: Forward Associates

Shortlisted nominees:
WJHW, a PMY company
Fenwick Iribarren Architects
DigiLED
Forum by Nowy Styl
AiFi

AV FAN EXPERIENCE AWARD

Category Winner: Interactive Activities at Paris La Défense Arena (Deezer, France)

Shortlisted nominees:
Distributed Line Array Sound System at Crypto.com Arena (Anthony James Partners, USA)
Graphics Experience at Parramatta Eels games (Light & Fury, Australia)
Barça Immersive Tour at Spotify Nou Camp (Mediapro Exhibitions, Spain)
LED Cube at Swiss Life Arena (Samsung Electronics, Switzerland)
End Zone Screen at Gillette Stadium (Daktronics, USA)

CONCOURSE ACTIVATION AWARD

Category Winner: The Terrace View – Holte End at Villa Park (UK)

Shortlisted nominees:
Lambeau Field’s Upper Concourse (USA)
Outfield District at Rogers Centre/Toronto BlueJays (Canada)
FedExField sportsbook (USA)
Coventry Building Society Arena’s microbrewery lounge (UK)
Turf Moor’s Super Box (UK)

COMMUNITY PROJECT AWARD

Category Winner: Multi-faith prayer room at Melbourne Cricket Ground (Australia)

Shortlisted nominees:
Community facilities at Wiigulga Sports Complex (Australia)
Recycle for Good at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (USA)
Sensory room at Estádio Major Antônio Couto (Brazil)
Dementia-friendly drive at Wembley Stadium (UK)
NIL hub for students at Bryant-Denny Stadium (USA)

INNOVATION AWARD

Category Winner: Water treatment at Forest Green Rovers (UK)

Shortlisted nominees:
Fanboni at Florida Panthers (USA)
Fire safety design process at Everton FC (UK)
Pixellot S3 Automated Camera System (Global)
Wings and Rooftops concept at Newcastle United (UK)
Estadio de la Cerámica redevelopment (Spain)

HOSPITALITY & PREMIUM AWARD

Category Winner: Sky Boxes at Udinese Calcio (Italy)

Shortlisted nominees:
Hospitality at UBS Arena (USA)
Amex Stadium Tunnel Club (UK)
Concert Club and Vantage at RAC Arena (Australia)
The Londoner Arena (Macau)
Skyline at Edgbaston Stadium (UK)

SUSTAINABILITY DELIVERED AWARD

Category Winner: The modular, demountable ABBA Arena (AbbaVoyage / ES Global Ltd, UK)

Shortlisted nominees:
Reseating with Recycling at Deutsche Bank Park (Eintracht Frankfurt/Forum by Nowy Styl, (Germany)
Solar initiative at Estádio D. Afonso Henriques (Vitoria Clube/Sustainable Energy Systems, (Portugal)
Expansion of bicycle facilities at Allegiant Stadium (USA)
Solar energy plant at Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor (SV Darmstadt 98/ENTEGA, Germany)
Zero-Waste facilities at CityPark (St Louis City SC, USA)

PROJECT OF THE YEAR AWARD

Category Winner: Climate Pledge Arena (USA)

Shortlisted nominees:
RC Strasbourg (France)
Nelson Mandela Stadium (Algeria)
Gillette Stadium North End (USA)
Es Con Field Hokkaido (Japan)
BBBank Wildpark (Germany)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Category Winner: Hannu Helkiӧ, Founder and Managing Director, HH Sportsbase + Venues

Congratulations to all the recipients. Here’s to another fantastic batch of entries and finalists in 2024.

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