News Story

Winners in focus: Club Level at Emirates Stadium

Thursday, January 26, 2012 ~ 8:00am

TheStadiumBusiness Awards’ Project of the Year Award recognises “an expansion, modernisation or major capital enhancement of an existing venue that has delivered on all its project goals and more.” Our 2011 Award winner – the re-modelling of Club Level at Arsenal FC’s Emirates Stadium – did just that…

The Emirates Stadium opened in 2006, immediately setting a new standard for how Gunners fans could watch their team. However, rather than rest on previous successes, the club appointed London-based design agency 20|20 to consider how the stadium’s Club Level (a premium tier of 7,000 seats) could be enhanced to better fulfil its potential as a premier area from which to watch football.

The re-modelled environment immerses fans in the beauty and detail of Arsenal’s rich history, with designs based around a celebration of the club’s past and present successes. The development sees the Woolwich suite in Club Level transformed into four distinctive ‘club within club’ spaces; a buffet dining restaurant; a stylish bar; a high quality lounge; and an exclusive à la carte restaurant, thereby providing unique, intimate experiences which appeal to increasingly diverse customer segments.

Implemented by Belfast-based Portview Fit-Out during a tight 11 week period, the results are spectacular, and look set to take the new stadium to even greater successes, rendering the project a worthy winner of the 2011 Project of The Year Award.

Arsenal FC’s Commercial Operations Manager Ben Kensell was on hand at the Camp Nou to collect the Award at the 2011 Gala Evening, along with 20|20’s Creative Director Jon Lee and MD Jim Thompson.

“This is a great award for us and Arsenal in recognition of the power of truly customer focused brand experiences within the stadium environment,” commented Jim. “We have been able to create three levels of hospitality offer which give fans a real choice of match day experience, each space enhances Arsenal’s brand story and brings to life the club in a whole new way.”

Later, Arsenal FC’s Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis spoke of his delight at the accolade: “Emirates Stadium is one of the most advanced sports stadiums in the world and we are committed to continue to improve and develop it so we can provide the best environment and facilities possible to both our supporters and corporate visitors.

“We are very proud that the first stage of our Club Level redevelopment programme has been recognised by our colleagues from the global stadium industry. This recognition affirms the quality of our stadium and reconfirms Club Level and Emirates Stadium as premier venues in sports hospitality.”

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TO READ MORE ABOUT THE SUCCESSES OF ALL 2011 AWARD WINNERS, DOWNLOAD OUR 2011 WINNERS' REVIEW PDF HERE: