1. We are WSP
  2. What we do
  3. Projects
  4. San Carlos de Apoquindo Stadium

When is a stadium expansion not an expansion? When it’s a retrofit.

Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo will have 40% more seats when its renovation is complete and its total area will more than triple. But as far as its owner, the project team and local residents are concerned, this is first and foremost a modernization, which will dramatically reduce its energy and water consumption and the impact on the surrounding area. 

WSP is managing the project, as well as being responsible for the community engagement plan, environmental impact statement, sustainability strategy, detailed engineering design and construction management. Through early community involvement and a design that will minimize disruption even as the stadium expands, they have managed to achieve the apparently impossible. 

Entrada image
Request additional information

Location

  • Santiago, Chile

Architect

Project Status

  • Under construction
Our client, Universidad Católica, are thought leaders here in Chile, and also in Latin America. Everyone is looking to them, so this is a big opportunity to make a positive impact, beyond the size of the project.

Community engagement before architecture

The stadium has an enviable location in the foothills of the Andes, among the luxurious homes of one of Santiago’s most exclusive districts. But since it opened in 1988, tensions with the neighbours have held back the ambitions of home team Universidad Católica, a football club in Chile’s premier league. “We knew that Universidad Católica wanted to remodel the stadium, but couldn’t get approval from the municipality, so we proposed a different approach,” says WSP project lead Sebastian Luongo. “Rather than having an architect design the stadium expansion and then presenting it to the community, we suggested the club begin by talking to them about what it’s like living nearby, and evolve the design to mitigate the problems.” 
 

Address noise and light pollution with a roof retrofit

Now under construction, the retrofit involves building a completely separate structure over the top of the existing stadium. This will increase the number of seats from 14,000 to 20,000, add five floors on top of the main grandstand, upgrade the current facilities, and add multipurpose spaces to increase utilization outside of match days and concerts. Crucially, it will also address two big complaints from local residents: crowd noise and light pollution. Downward-facing lights suspended inside will replace the four floodlight towers, and the north facade will be acoustically insulated to protect the neighborhood next door. 
 

Solving traffic concerns with alternatives to cars

Public transport links will be improved, while partnerships with e-mobility companies will expand non-motorized options. Where parking used to be free, anyone arriving by car will now have to pay, and there will be no new spaces on site. “If you put in more parking, you have more cars,” Luongo points out. “We’ve also designed a better process in the parking lot, so there won’t be lines of cars outside.” To disperse the additional capacity, there will be satellite parking areas, and the number of entry points to the site will be increased from two to three.

Make a stadium expansion into a sustainability leader

By renewing building systems and adding the thermally insulated superstructure, the retrofit will lower the stadium’s energy consumption and carbon emissions, even as it expands. Rather than diesel generators, the expanded stadium will be powered by 436 solar panels mounted on the roof, supplemented by 100% renewable energy. Water consumption will be reduced by 70% by installing more efficient systems, reusing greywater, and swapping natural grass for synthetic – the pitch replacement alone will save 120,000 litres per day during the summer. 1,600m3 of mass timber will be used in the construction, capturing around 1,500 tons of CO2. Around the perimeter, 500 trees of native species will be planted to soften views of the stadium, and another 1,000 in a park that will contribute to the reforestation of Santiago. 
Increased capacity
40%
Water consumption reduced by
70%
Recycled steel structure avoids (tonnes CO2e)
3,200

Other challenges that we have overcome