As Building’s review of the 12 stadiums hosting the Brazil World Cup continues, we look at the most environmentally ambitious of the World Cup stadiums, Arena Pernambuco

Arena Pernambuco

Arena Pernambuco

CITY: Recife
COMPLETION: 2013
CAPACITY: 44,248
ARCHITECT: Fernandes Arquitetos Associados
CONTRACTOR: Odebrecht
COST: £142m

This new multi-purpose venue is actually part of a much larger regeneration project that will also bring other leisure, residential and commercial developments to a deprived area of Brazil’s most easterly major city. Its design is also one of the most interesting and environmentally ambitious of all the new World Cup stadiums. The stadium resembles an artificial crater and its four-sided facade is entirely composed of ETFE cushions. According to its designers this is the first time ETFE has been used in this manner in South America. The ETFE admits natural light into six floors of extensive hospitality areas incorporated into the stadium and also transforms the stadium into a pulsating beacon of light and colours at night. Other sustainability features include rainwater harvesting, a sophisticated waste management scheme and a solar power plant that will generate 1MW of energy for both the stadium and surrounding developments.

Online World Cup competition

World Cup logo 2014

Building is able offer a fantastic competition prize of two tickets to watch England vs Slovenia at Wembley as part of the European Championship Qualifiers on 15 November. All you have to do is predict which football teams in this year’s World Cup will battle through to be finalists on 13 July and ultimately who will be the victor of that final match. But hurry, we need all entries before the first match kicks off between Brazil and Croatia at 9pm, 12 June. For terms and conditions, and to enter go to www.building.co.uk/worldcupcomp.