Philippine Arena

The Philippine Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena at Ciudad de Victoria, a 140-hectare

tourism enterprise zone in Bocaue and Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippines. With a maximum
capacity of 55,000 people, it is the world's largest indoor arena and the largest mixed-use indoor
theater. It is the centerpiece of the many centennial projects of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) for their
centennial celebration on July 27, 2014. The legal owner of the arena is the INC's educational
institution, New Era University.

Building details
Concept

The initial design concept of the Philippine arena is inspired by Narra tree, the mother tree
of the Philippines, and the root of the Banyan tree. The roof was inspired by that of a Nipa Hut.
Architecture

Populous, a global mega-architecture firm, designed the arena through their office in Brisbane,
Australia. The arena has been master planned to enable at least 50,000 people to gather inside the
building and a further 50,000 to gather at a live site or plaza outside to share in major events. The
arena is a one-sided bowl. The lower bowl will be the most frequently used part of the building and
the architectural design allows for easy separation of the lower bowl from the upper tier, by
curtaining with acoustic and thermal properties. The seating layout of the arena is different from that
of a standard arena where the stage is at the middle and is surrounded by seats. The seating of the
arena closely resembles that of a Greek amphitheater, built in a semi-circle with the seats at the sides
and front of the arena stage. The seatings are divided into three sections. Each of the sections are
colored green, white and red the colors of the Iglesia Ni Cristo flag.
Structure

A portion of the 50,000 seats of the Philippine Arena. The color of the seats was patterned on
the Iglesia Ni Cristo flag.

Built on 99,200 square meters of land and has a dome of 36,000 square metres. The roof
spans some 160 meters and contains 9,000 tons of steel work. The roof was made as a separate unit
to reduce burden on the arena with extra load. The arena is 62 meters in height, or about fifteen
stories high and founded on pile construction. For earthquake loads, about a third of the dead load of
the building was designed. The building was also divided into multiple structure to strengthen the

arena's earthquake resistance.

Landscape

PWP Landscape Architecture, the firm who landscaped the National September 11 Memorial &
Museum, designed the landscape for the arena and the whole complex of Ciudad de Victoria. For the
arena, a series of outdoor plazas, gardens and performance venues form the setting for the
development including: The North and South Arrival Plazas, The Promontory Plaza, The Great Stairs,
and Ciudad de Victoria Plaza that are all related to each other with two cross axes (N-S and E-W) that
intersect at the Promontory Plaza.

Uses
The arena will not only hold major church gatherings, but will also operate as a multi-use
sports and concert venue, capable of holding a range of events from boxing and basketball to live
music performances, but no soccer or field events due to its limited size. There is clear "line of sight"
for every seat from each tier, even for various arena configurations such as church ceremonies,
boxing, tennis, concerts or indoor gymnastics. The Iglesia ni Cristo will allow non-Iglesia tenants to
use the arena. The church reserves the right to disallow activities which it sees violate its religious
principles, which include gambling-related events and cockfighting. The overall vision of the master
plan will eventually see inclusion of shopping centers, a hospital, and large scale residential
developments.

Awards
The Philippine Arena was awarded as the best sports project in Asia under the "medium cap
project" category at the Construction Awards 2013 by the World Finance.[25] On July 27, 2014,
Guinness World Records recognized the arena as the largest mixed-use indoor theater when 51,919

official audience attended the worship service conducted that day.[7]

As of July 27, 2014, Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) is officially the holder of 8 world titles as certified by
the Guiness World Records. The latest of the two world records was achieved today when INC set new
records for the worlds largest gospel choir, and worlds largest mixed-use arena.

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Arena
http://www.inewmedia.org/inc-officially-holds-8-world-records-accordingguinness-world-records/10114/

Interesting facts you might not know about this innovative mega-structure:

1. Philippine Arena versus Singapores National Stadium.

When the National Stadium in Singapore was
completed in June, haters were quick to conclude
that it is indeed the biggest domed structure in the
world and not the Philippine Arena.
But heres the thing: the two mega-structures are under two
different categories. Therefore, comparing them is like trying
to

compare apples and oranges.

Although both are intended to accommodate sports activities

and 55, 000 seats, Philippine Arena and Singapores National Stadium are completely different. Ours

is an arena which is an enclosed facility used for indoor events. The National Stadium, as its name
suggests, is categorized as a stadium which is usually an outdoor location.
The National Stadium also has a retractable roof while Philippine Arena is a fully air-conditioned
indoor domed structure.

2. Philippine Arena was built not to make a profit.

In an article published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a
source from Iglesia ni Cristo claimed that the Philippine
Arena was built not to make a profit. In fact, it is not
even commercialized nor aimed at making money.
The Philippine Arena is intended to become a wholesome
gathering place for people and an entertainment venue for
the whole family, serving as a venue for religious, cultural
and sporting events.

3. Philippine Arena was made possible through voluntary offerings of its members.
Isnt it insulting for the government to see a religious
organization outperforming them in building megastructures such as Philippine Arena?
Anyhow, it just goes to prove that the solidarity of Iglesia ni
Cristo members is worth emulating, regardless of your
religious affiliation.
The Philippine Arena was made entirely from the INC
members voluntary offerings. This opposes the existing
misconception that INC members are forced to give their tithes regularly.
According to INC members, they consider giving offerings as a duty and not as donation because
they can see clearly where their money goes.

4. The Philippine Arenas architecture is designed by world-acclaimed architecture

designers from Populous.
This architecture firm that started in Kansas City is also the architect group behind the following
major projects: 02 World Arena, Soccer City (Johannesburg, South Africa), Wimbley Stadium
(London, United Kingdom), Yankee Stadium (New York, USA), The 02 Arena (Greenwich, United
Kingdom), Queensland Tennis Center (Australia), Incheon Stadium (Korean), Equestrian Center
(Malaysia), Nanjing Sports Park (China) and MCG Redevelopment (Australia).

5. Structural Engineering of the Philippine Arena

is managed by the London Based Buro
Happold.
They
are
best
remembered as the
Zhuhai-Macao
Clearance Building,
Arsenal
Emirates
Aviva
Stadium
(United
Kingdom),
Francisco, USA) and

structural implementors of HongKong

Bridge, the Hong Kong Passenger
Guangzhou-Shenzen Express Rail Link,
Arena (London, United Kingdom),
(Dublin, Ireland), Riverside Museum
Transbay
Transit
Center
(San
Exeter University (United Kingdom).

6. Philippine Arena is twice the size of the largest arenas in the US and in Europe.

Madison Square Garden (New York) has a seating capacity of

20,000. Staples Center (Los Angeles) can seat 21,000
spectators at the same time, 02 Arena (London) seating
capacity is 20,000. While the Philippine Arena is 50,000
seating.

7. World-class Hanwa Construction of South Korea leads the construction of this

megastructure.
Hanwha E & C Corp (South Korea) is leading the
construction of the Philippine Arena. This worldclass firm is best recognized for its construction of
Ansan Sports Complex (Ansan, Korea), Suwon
Complex (Suwon, Korea), Haeundae Hanwha
Resort (Busan, Korea), IT Complex (Seoul, Korea)
and KINTEX 2nd Exhibition Center (Goyang,
Korea).

8. Populous Andrew James regards this project as ambitious and unusual since
no one has done this before. No one has ever designed a 50,000 seater in a half
bowl design.
Andrew James shares:
The buildings capacity pushes the boundary of Arena
design and will eventually establish itself as the worlds
largest indoor arena. The form uses simple geometry to
create an elegant appearance, while also giving the venue a
powerful presence within its setting.

9. The Philippine Arena is the best venue candidate for Southeast Asian Games or
Asian Games. James anticipates that after completion the Philippine Arena will
be a major sports facility.
James in an interview shares , If the Philippines chooses to bid for a Southeast Asian
game or any Asian games, this building can be one of the key features of the bid for that
game. It may be used for an opening or closing ceremony as well.
According to INC Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo, the Philippine Arena can be used
not only by the Church but by the public in general whether for local or international
events.

10.
The Philippine Arena is Earthquake Proof. Aside from
being acknowledged as The largest building of its kind it is also built to
withstand earthquakes.
Denise Keller (top left) and David Moggie (top
right) producers and director of the Discovery
Channel Documentary about the arena called
Quake Proof talks about the important points
of how the movie will run. Interview will start
next month and the first part of the film will be
aired on the latter part of December this year.
(Below) The meeting is between the owners
representative (New Era University), the Project
Manager (Generations Design Asia GDA) and
Hanwa Construction.

11.
The initial design concept of the Philippine arena is the Narra Tree and
the Philippines Bahay Kubo thatched roof design
6

According to Wikipedia, the Philippine Arenas

initial design is inspired by the Philippine
national tree Narra tree, the mother tree of the
Philippines, and the root of Banyan tree. On the
other hand, Populous shares that the thatched
roof of a hut inspires part of the design of the
Philippine Arena roof.

12. While the Philippine Arena is being built, other infrastructures are also built in
Ciudad de Victoria just in time for the Iglesia Ni Cristo Centennial Celebration.
It is expected that the following buildings will also be finished by July 2014: Erao G.

Manalo (EGM) Medical Center, New Era University, the Philippine Stadium, and the
Philippine Sports Center.

References:

http://www.filipiknow.net/interesting-facts-about-philippine-

arena/
http://www.inewmedia.org/12-facts-might-know-worlds-largest-indoordome/5398/