The new "Europa-Park Stadium" with a capacity of 34,700 spectators was designed by HPP Architects for the German Bundesliga soccer team SC Freiburg. Located in the north of Freiburg, close to the airport and with excellent public transport connections, it replaces the "Schwarzwaldstadion" of 1954.
Earthquakes, spectators and their influence on building structure
Imagine more than 30,000 spectators jumping up and down in rhythm at a soccer match. The structure that supports them is subjected to dynamic loads and vibrations in the foundation connections. In addition, the design team must take into account that Freiburg is located in an earthquake zone 2. The stiffening requirements due to earthquake forces had to be taken into account in the design.
Expertise is required for challenging projects such as this. HPP has extensive experience in sports facility construction, as does Krebs + Kiefer, which was responsible for the entire structural design and fire protection planning. The range of expertise was supplemented by Knippers Helbig for structural steel design and planning.
Column connections for earthquake loading can be designed in Germany in most cases for all seismic zones (0 to 3) in buildings of significance category I to III with no more than 6 full stories, a design, also of the precast connections, according to Eurocodes 2 to 7 - if necessary in conjunction with building authority approvals of the connecting members and, if required, with additional structural measures according to Annex A of Eurocode 8.
In all precast concrete columns of this demanding structure, the structural engineers designed Peikko bolted connections. The column connections, consisting of HPKM® column shoes and HPM® anchor bolts, serve as cantilever supports in the erection condition and as bracing for normal forces in the final condition.
Precast concrete and steel construction
Köster has already realized several stadiums with Peikko products and solutions: BayArena Leverkusen, Rot-Weiss Erfurt, Rot-Weiss Essen, the hotel and museum for Borussia Mönchengladbach.
The roof supporting structure was designed by knippers helbig as a steel lattice structure cantilevering about 44 m from the outer wall to the inside. The lattice beams are supported by exterior inclined steel columns that transfer the tensile forces into the foundations. They also form the stadium's unique and characteristic zigzag facade.
Where the roof structure rests on the wall or columns, galvanized anchor bolts were used to anchor the connections of the steel components to the concrete structure.
"With bolted connections for precast concrete elements, the shell of a stadium is completed within 12 months," explains Thorsten Heskamp, an engineer in the technical office of Peikko Germany. In this case, the construction phase took longer, but in the end SC Freiburg is satisfied to finally move into its new home and write a new chapter in its history.
