NOKIA Arena in Tampere (FI)

The Daniel Libeskind-designed stadium in the city of Tampere in southwest Finland is used for ice hockey games and concerts and can accommodate up to 15,000 visitors.

The complex, consisting of an arena, a hotel and two neighbouring residential towers, is entirely based on a concrete slab with four train tunnels running underneath. The hotel is partly built on top of the arena.

The challenge

Elastic Decoupling of the arena from underground train vibrations
Additional insulation of the hotel connected to the arena
Point loads of up to 7,000 kN
Harsh climatic conditions

The Getzner solution

Getzner's HRB HS series was the only solution on the market that met the demanding requirements. The heavy-duty bearings made of Sylodyn® provide the necessary mechanical strength combined with good elasticity. They reliably decouple structures with loads of up to 12 N/mm2 over a long period of time.

The piles of the buildings are completely decoupled from the concrete slab by point bearings, the walls are isolated with strip bearings. Stairwells and lift shafts project through the concrete slab to the level of the train tracks. The different levels at which the structures had to be decoupled were quite a challenge for Getzner's specialists when planning the vibration insulation.

In order to compensate for tensile loads on the columns, it was also necessary to design individual bearing constructions in some cases. Pre-tensioning elements were used during the installation of the bearings to take into account the enormously high weight that would be placed on the columns after construction.

Advantages for the customer

Sustainable vibration insulation of stadium and adjacent buildings above a railway line
Increased living and working quality, authentic stadium atmosphere
High requirements of the client were demonstrably met

The special foundation situation at the NOKIA Arena building complex presented us with numerous challenges when designing the insulation solution. On the walls of the towers, we had to consider three separate bearing points for multi-axial load conditions in some cases.

Andreas Wenz Project Engineer Getzner Werkstoffe GmbH