The Korean Football Park, home of the Korean Football Association (KFA), has been completed in Cheonan, south of Seoul.
Its Dutch architect, UNS, said it was designed to “shape the future of the sport and its next generation of athletes”.
Future home of the South Korean national team, the 450,427-sq-m complex will have 11 football fields including an indoor stadium, outdoor stadium, a sport history museum, gyms and healthcare facilities, retail, multi-purpose sports areas, youth accommodation, women’s training camp, hotel and spa.
The site will have a central plaza connecting the museum, indoor stadium and the outdoor stadium, which is integrated with KFA’s headquarters.
Technology has been integrated into the design, allowing for data-led coaching, tracking and operational management through athlete monitoring systems.
The stadium’s facade opens towards the players’ accommodation so the team can watch matches.
The masterplan has been designed around the site’s sloping topography with a terraced structure to create flat playing surfaces.
Guus Hiddink, former manager of the South Korean national team, said: “Football has changed. A modern coach needs perfect, flat pitches to practice high-speed football. But today’s training also relies on advanced support facilities for data analysis and player development. It’s no longer just about the pitch; the entire complex has to be state-of-the-art.”
Henk Markerink, former chief executive at Johan Cruijff ArenA, said: “The ordering of functions is very important in training complexes of this kind. It requires a clear progression from public to private spaces, so we started by creating a public square with the museum and fan shop, using the stadium to create the feeling of entering a small city.
“From that public entrance, you move deeper into the more semi-public and private areas of the complex.”
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