Investors and municipalities are right to ask the same first question: has this been built before? For The Dome Sweden, the answer is yes. The concept is based on the successful and award-winning design by the Japanese architect Endo Shuhei: the Bourbon Beans Dome of Miki City, built near Kobe, Japan.
This post is about what that built model shows, and why it matters more than a rendering.
A roof set into the landscape
Seen from the air, the Bourbon Beans Dome is a curved metal roof that rises out of a green hillside, with a park, a running track and parking laid out around it. The building does not sit on the landscape; it is part of it. For a Swedish site, that is the starting point for the environmental ambition: an arena whose construction and operation respects and promotes the surrounding nature, and that strives to become the first fully sustainable and smart arena in Scandinavia.
One roof, many courts
Inside, the lattice roof spans a centre court with stands and the practice courts beside it, all under the same structure. The photographs on this site, from international tennis events held there, show the point: a full house around the centre court while play continues on the courts around it.
Gathering many sports under one roof is the priority for the sports facilities of the future.
The Dome Sweden takes the same idea further in its programme: tennis, squash, padel, beach tennis, touchtennis, badminton and table tennis clubs, fitness and well-being, spa, medicare and conference rooms, with professional coaches in every sport and education all year round.
A centre court that pays for the rest
A 15,000-seat centre court changes what an arena can be. It is adapted for national and international sport as well as socio-cultural events: the most prestigious sporting competitions, concerts, stand-up comedy and other innovative events. For the region, that means sports tourism and business development. For the project, it means an events business alongside the clubs.
A park that belongs to everyone
Around the Bourbon Beans Dome is a public park. Around The Dome Sweden there will be a sports park where the public is encouraged to take part in outdoor sports, with climbing walls, exercise machines and team sports on the field. The running track around the perimeter is artificially frozen in winter for cross-country skiing. The arena serves the people who never buy a membership.
Why a built model matters
A rendering shows an intention. A built, operating arena shows how the roof performs, how spectators move, how the courts share the space, and how the building sits in a community. It also brings its architect: Endo Shuhei is part of The Dome Sweden team, so the knowledge from Miki City is in the room when the Swedish arena is designed.
