Super Trouper: ABBA Arena is the world’s largest demountable temporary venue
Entertainment architects Stufish create ABBA Arena, a temporary structure to house the legendary music group's London spectacle

Dirk Lindner - Photography
ABBA Arena, the newly opened home of the legendary music group's revolutionary London show, ABBA Voyage, is not only a clever physical space to house an innovative virtual concert; it is also the world's largest demountable temporary venue. The structure, a subtly mysterious, timber-clad, hexagonal volume placed near Pudding Mill Lane DLR station in east London, is a brand new performance space for the capital, created through the expertise of architects Stufish. The studio, also responsible for behind impressive stage set designs such as Beyonce and Jay-Z’s On The Run II tour, conceived this piece of entertainment architecture as only the practice's fifth ground-up new-build structure – and its first outside China.
The building was designed ‘from the inside out’, the architects explain. The geometry of the external volume is a direct result of the requirements of the show taking place inside it – the stage, set design and audience needs (it includes 1,650 seats and space for a standing audience of 1,350). At the same time, it is flexible through its prefabricated, demountable nature – after the show runs its course, it can be taken down and relocated elsewhere seamlessly.
‘The ABBA Arena, a portable venue, will set the standard for future shows where the physical and the digital fuse to create a new genre of experience in the physical world,' Stufish CEO Ray Winkler says. Stufish partner Alicia Tkacz adds: ‘This unique project provided the perfect blend of architecture and entertainment, allowing us to create an amazing immersive experience for the audience, that has never been seen before.'
Beyond the impressive musical experience it offers, the ABBA Arena is an equally striking feat of engineering. It has been optimised to be as light as possible, in order to minimise the load on the foundation, while its clear roof span is possible thanks to advanced structural magic. The structure's semi-axisymmetric steel dome weighs some 744 tonnes and it was prefabricated on the ground (by builders ES Global) before being lifted in place above its foundations.
Now it stands, clad in sustainable timber with the ‘ABBA' sign shining through the battens in LED, inviting guests in and glowing like a fun beacon for music and performance. Meanwhile, an extended sheltered concourse area just outside protects visitors, built by Stage One, ensuring functionality goes hand in hand with spectacle in this unique London venue.
INFORMATION
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Read about more Stufish projects, including U2 at the Sphere, and the Take That tour 2024.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Jnane Rumi: clarity, reflection and connection
In the quiet tranquillity of Marrakech’s Palmeraie, Jnane Rumi evokes a rich and colourful tapestry of Moroccan art, craftsmanship and design
-
Cindy Sherman in Menorca: ‘She's decades ahead of social media and the construction of identity for the camera’
‘Cindy Sherman: The Women’, its title a nod to an image-conscious 1930s Broadway hit, takes the American artist's carefully constructed, highly performative works to Hauser & Wirth Menorca
-
A Rancho Mirage home is in tune with its location and its architect-owners' passions
Architect Steven Harris and his collaborator and husband, designer Lucien Rees Roberts have built a home in Rancho Mirage, surrounded by some of America’s most iconic mid-century modern works; they invited us on a tour
-
Shard Place offers residents the chance to live in the shadow of London’s tallest building
The 27-storey tower from Renzo Piano Building Workshop joins The Shard and The News Building to complete Shard Quarter, providing a sophisticated setting for renters
-
Kengo Kuma’s ‘Paper Clouds’ in London is a ‘poem’ celebrating washi paper in construction
‘Paper Clouds’, an installation by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, is a poetic design that furthers research into the use of washi paper in construction
-
Foster + Partners to design the national memorial to Queen Elizabeth II
For the Queen Elizabeth II memorial, Foster + Partners designs proposal includes a new bridge, gates, gardens and figurative sculptures in St James’ Park
-
Wolves Lane Centre brings greenery, growing and grass roots together
Wolves Lane Centre, a new, green community hub in north London by Material Cultures and Studio Gil, brings to the fore natural materials and a spirit of togetherness
-
A new London exhibition explores the legacy of Centre Pompidou architect Richard Rogers
‘Richard Rogers: Talking Buildings’ – opening tomorrow at Sir John Soane’s Museum – examines Rogers’ high-tech icons, which proposed a democratic future for architecture
-
At the Royal Academy summer show, architecture and art combine as never before
The Royal Academy summer show is about to open in London; we toured the iconic annual exhibition and spoke to its curator for architecture, Farshid Moussavi
-
This ingenious London office expansion was built in an on-site workshop
New Wave London and Thomas-McBrien Architects make a splash with this glulam extension built in the very studio it sought to transform. Here's how they did it
-
Once vacant, London's grand department stores are getting a new lease on life
Thanks to imaginative redevelopment, these historic landmarks are being reborn as residences, offices, gyms and restaurants. Here's what's behind the trend