The grandest football stadium in all of Europe is about to get a little bigger. Barcelona have released their ambitious plans to remodel and increase the capacity of their Camp Nou stadium by the start of the 2021/22 season.
The renovations will see the overall capacity of the footballing cathedral increase from 99,354 to 105,000. The atmosphere and noise generated by 105,000 supporters will also be cranked up a notch with the addition of a roof which will cover the seats around the entirety of the stadium, ensuring that the noise within cannot get out.
[PHOTOS] Have you seen the photos of the #NouCampNou? See all the details at https://t.co/pET0RkFaeQ pic.twitter.com/7TH3qJ5CAe
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 9, 2016
The Camp Nou stadium opened in 1957 and has been the home of Barcelona since its completion. Work on the redevelopment will begin in 2017 and will not affect the club’s residency during the period of construction.
Other evident changes in the remodeling, which will be done jointly by Japanese architecture company Nikken Sekkei and a Catalan studio, include an even height throughout the top of the stadium, the current rendition of the Camp Nou slopes on certain ends, and visible areas beneath the grandstands.
The project will cost €600 million, and the final bid was selected after a vigorous democratic process involving proposals from 45 different architectural firms. In order to foot the cost for some of the bill, partial naming rights for the new ground will be sold for around €200 million. Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to Camp Qatar.
This is all part of Barcelona’s master plan towards being able to fit all Barcelona supporters worldwide, over 270 million, into the stadium. This would significantly increase gate receipts, allow them to no longer illegally sign players under the age of 18 and, of course, utterly destroy Real Madrid. Here are the blueprints for Barcelona’s 270 million capacity Camp Nou:
To fit all fans, Camp Nou would need 4,500 levels. Join & win 2 tickets to the #ClasicoFCB https://t.co/SoKiumlW3e pic.twitter.com/NhTe7DZkBz
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 9, 2016
(H/T: ESPN FC)
