The Sports Palace of Madrid

The Sports Palace of Madrid is a magnificent work of modern engineering. After the original palace was destroyed in a fire in 2001, the city government of Madrid confronted the construction of a second building by the architects Enrique Hermoso and Paloma Huidobro, which opened in 2005.

The current Madrid Sports Palace is an indoor stadium which can accommodate between 14 000 and 18 000 people, according to the type of event to be held. They were held on Euro 2007 and the Euro league Basketball Final Four and the final of the Copa del Rey in basketball in 2006, 2009 and 2011.

With an investment of 124 million euro, the new Sports Palace of Madrid has been designed under the highest safety standards, equipped with high technology, built with easy access and equipped with many functional elements of innovative design. The building was made between 2002 and 2005 and, with 82,044 m2, 14,000 more than in the old palace which succumbed to the fire of June 18, 2001.

The old building was inaugurated on February 26, 1960, and consisted of a circular building 115 m in diameter with a capacity of 10 thousand and 16 thousand people. The original palace served the community of Madrid for over 40 years hosting sports events such as competitive athletics, boxing, basketball, handball, martial arts, cycling and gymnastics. There were also presented numerous national and international artists such as AC / DC, Bob Dylan, Genesis, Tom Jones, Eric Clapton and Luz Casal.

The new building has a structure adaptable to the needs of different events. First, there are 4 levels of the stadium that can be deployed and folded completely in minutes, providing additional capacity for 5 000 people. It also has mobile bleachers for 690 people capacity, which can be moved around the ring area and four giant curtains, fireproof area designed to divide the ring in case of different events taking place at the same time.

After the fire in 2001 the main concern in dealing with the reconstruction of the palace was their safety. Therefore, the new building was equipped with the best available system including smoke detectors, alarms, emergency lights and elevators. Also worked with the aim of making the stadium accessible to all kinds of people, so we designed a seating area for spectators in wheelchairs with the best view, a parking area and facilities for disabled participants and competitors disabled inside the facility.

Without doubt, the Sports Palace of Madrid is a masterpiece of modern engineering.