Bodø/Glimt could change its stadium

A diamond in the middle of the nature. This is the architectural dream of Bodø/Glimt, the Norwegian football team that has achieved the greatest results in Europe in recent years; tomorrow Bodø/Glimt they will face Lazio for the first match of the quarter-finals of the 2024/25 Europa League. Just before Christmas, the club confirmed that it had chosen the design for a new, more modern stadium in line with the club's ambitions. The stadium in question is the Arctic Arena, a 10,000-seat facility presented by the company Consto and designed by Nordic Office of Architecture in collaboration with the engineering firm Arup. It features an unique design on the exterior façade, a series of geometric panels that, based on their arrangement, will offer a reference to the silhouette of a diamond. At the moment, these are the only official details about the stadium: the start and end dates for the construction have not yet been announced, and there is no estimate of the cost for this stadium. This information is expected to be released once the negotiations between the parties are completed.

The only other official information about the Arctic Arena is the location of the new stadium: Thalleåkeren, a green area near the city center that the club acquired for around 81 million Norwegian kroner, about 7 million euros. The current stadium in Bodø, Aspmyra Stadion, is located in the southern part of the city, but there is no available land large enough in that area to build a new stadium in line with the club’s ambitions. This is why the attention of Bodø/Glimt has shifted to Thalleåkeren, causing some dissatisfaction, mainly with the local administration rather than with the club itself.

Initially, this area was intended for the construction of a new municipal healthcare center, but when the project was halted, the land was sold to the club for a price that, according to opposition groups in the city council, is below its actual market value. There is also an ethical issue, as the land at Thalleåkeren is arable, a resource that is increasingly scarce in Norway, and for this reason, local farmers are not happy about the construction of a stadium, which will also include training fields and possibly a commercial hub in the future. They also cannot understand why a club that prides itself on sustainability has decided to build on land intended for agriculture.

The Arctic Arena project is undoubtedly an ambitious one, but the club's management has confirmed that the mission is to take Bodø/Glimt to a new dimension. The defense of the bond with the territory and local communities remains a priority, but now there is also a new scenario in which Bodø/Glimt cannot afford to underestimate the importance of making a name for itself at the European level. The image that Bodø/Glimt currently projects is that of a semi-professional club playing its home games in a stadium with less than 9,000 seats and only two stands out of four.

The match experience is certainly not ideal, especially on nights when rain, wind, or snow dominate. From what can be seen in the renderings, the new Arctic Arena will be a fully covered stadium with a double-ring structure for all the stands. On the outside, it will have an almost contemporary art museum-like look with the diamond shape mentioned earlier in dark tones, while the interior will feature a different light due to the extensive use of yellow, the club's official color. A stadium that will be designed with the possibility of hosting other events and could provide the decisive boost for Bodø/Glimt to play in the Champions League.