At the end of 2016, Real Madrid and the council of the city approved the new Bernabéu. Los Blancos will refurbish their stadium and complete a new modern ground. The works should start in the summer but the project has still to be unveiled in the next two weeks.
However, the Spanish newspaper ABC published some ideas of the new project. According to ABC, the new stadium will have a luxurious hotel in it and the shopping centre won’t be included, as it was expected at the beginning. Currently, there is a shopping centre called “La Esquina del Bernabéu” (Bernabéu’s corner), who will disappear.
The architecture firms GMP, L35 y Ribas y Ribas are working in the new project. Tristán López Chicheri, the director of the studio L35, gave some clues about the stadium: “It’s a shame that a stadium in the middle of the city is only alive 25 or 40 games. We should give it a mixture usability, although football will be the most important part. There will be more restaurants and spaces for complementary activities. And the museum will be bigger”, Tristán said.
The council has confirmed that they’ve received the first draft and they are waiting for the final project to be approved. The works should start in summer, so there is no time to be wasted. The first thing that will be done is the retractable roof. The project will have a cost of €400M.
Real Madrid want the investment to be profitable with a big area with restaurants, a luxurious hotel and different spaces to be rented for activities. Besides, there will be 2.000 more VIP seats and the box seats will be refurbished. The new name of the stadium is still unknown. Obviously the name Santiago Bernabéu will be included but it will also contain a “surname” with a commercial brand, as Florentino Pérez said recently.
