The historic Czech town of Jihlava lies nestled between Brno and the capital of Prague. It is a lesser-known destination for the meandering tourist, often enjoyed for its quaint architecture and picturesque town squares. However, this sleepy city is about to welcome a big cultural moment with the opening of the Jihlava Municipal Arena.
The new sports space was designed by Brno-based architecture firm CHYBÍK + KRIŠTOF, the same studio creating The London Bowl, a proposed multifunctional arena and mixed-use development designed to accommodate basketball, boxing, and international e-sports events. The firm designed the new arena after winning a regional competition and securing an 80,000,000 EUR public investment.
‘Building today is all about having context. Here, the context is these beautiful grown trees. It doesn't look like an arena in the middle of nowhere. It is a truly urban environment,’ explains Ondřej Chybík, co-founder of the firm. ‘These layers of trees, buildings, and even the neighbouring brewery give the feeling of a grown, built territory.’
When approaching the arena from the park, the building emerges in glimpses of red and grey triangles juxtaposed against the greenery, its seemingly spiky facade inspired its nickname, ‘The Hedgehog.'
'The shape comes from the Gothic origins of the city,’ explains Chybík. ‘You see a lot of these triangles in local Gothic architecture from the era when the city was the richest in its history. But it's not just a slightly sophisticated historical story; it can also be understood as a hedgehog, as this is the city’s animal. Even 100 years ago, there wasn't a Czech name for this city; it was a German name, Iglau. Igel in German means hedgehog.’
Chybík shares that local children are also calling the building ‘our hedgehog’, a positive sign that it belongs to them. The popular triangular facade, however, came as a surprise, as the firm won the competition with a different external design – one that consisted of white, horizontal lamellas.
Says Chybík: ‘It was really not enough to be a new symbol of the city, and that is what it should be: a new symbol, because it's funded by public money and is publicly accessible and oriented. We wished to have a building where, if you close your eyes, you would remember the shape forever – a building that could be memorable and understandable even to small kids.’
Sandwiched between the garden and a university, the multifunctional space can accommodate 5650 spectators and is divided into four buildings, including a 230-metre running track on the roof, a food court area, a 29-room hotel, and a gym and sports hall accessible through open-air walkways and seating spaces.
Inside, the oval-shaped arena was designed to highlight the spatial experience. Its large exterior shell transitions to a compressed area indoors, which in turn opens up into an expansive arena at its heart. The ground floor is a 360-degree open space, allowing easy access to seats and to grab a quick drink while the game is still on, without missing a moment.
The materiality is honest, easily legible and often left raw. Concrete is prefabricated; its curved shape symbolically embraces the pitch, while also expressing the civic presence of a coliseum. Curtains surrounding the exterior seating soften the concrete and add a theatrical element. The fabric can also be lowered for the space to feel cosier and the stadium to appear fuller for junior games. The chairs were crafted to support the acoustics and were designed in colours that match the club.
The second floor is designed to be symmetrical in plan. The large windows connect the exterior with the interior – one side overlooking the park, and the other, the university. The VIP area is located on this level, and overhangs allow guests to feel closer to the game.
After six years of construction, the building’s bold façade, coupled with its simple but striking materiality, has resulted in an inclusive destination for locals and beyond to enjoy coming together through sport.