In Jihlava the new hockey arena stays downtown offering on its roof two-hundred-thirty meters of track for those running daily.
- The studio CHYBÍK + KRIŠTOF reconstructed the arena in Jihlava’s center, avoiding peripheral placement that empties downtown.
- The structure houses 5,650 spectators for ice hockey and exceeds 7,400 seats for multi-use configurations.
- The roof hosts a 230-meter ring, open to public use via a reservation system.
- New pedestrian paths integrate the university, Smetanovy Sady park and a public staircase.
- In the pilot phase that started November 2025 the arena exceeded 250,000 total entries.
- The elevated track guarantees activity on weekdays, balancing concentrated weekend use.
An Arena That Doesn’t Go to the Periphery
You set foot on Jihlava’s concrete in the Czech Republic and see the building rise exactly where the old fifty-year-old facility stood, steps from downtown margin. Large sports arenas typically choose external highway junctions, isolated inside asphalt expanses meant for parking. The CHYBÍK + KRIŠTOF studio won the 2019 municipal competition with opposite intent: keep HC Dukla Jihlava’s home inside the urban fabric. The building houses 5,650 people during ice-hockey games, exceeding 7,400 in performance configurations, and addresses ground slope by connecting different levels with compact mass. The density of intervention respects the scale of a city of 55,000 residents, uniting professional sport presence with residents’ daily life.
Two-Hundred-Thirty Meters Above the Game
On the roof you find a 230-meter ring, shaped for running and accessible to the public through a digital reservation system. This track belongs to the local community, operates under separate management from the arena and offers continuous running surface above the ice sheet. When you run up there, you experience open perspective over Bohemian roofscapes while maintaining pace on isolated elevation removed from vehicle traffic. The arena’s upper level returns to the athlete the space subtracted by the building’s ground footprint, offering a speedy lane for anyone seeking a strength-building session a few meters from the sky.
The City Around the Building
The arena’s perimeter operates as a continuous pedestrian hub, tracing direct connections between university campus, green Smetanovy Sady park and neighboring residential streets. An exterior staircase accompanies ground slope, welcoming people like an informal amphitheater for rest and observation. The architecture welcomes and supplies sheltered paths and open spaces akin to the logic by which you seek shade during hot days. You walk, climb the steps and cross the public space without encountering blind walls between you and sport.
Tuesday Morning Without Spectators
Sports facilities for large masses risk emptiness on weekdays, consuming public land for few weekly spectacle hours. During the first pilot year launched November 2025, the complex registered over 250,000 visitors, distributing presence across the entire week. You can lace your shoes and climb to the top at eight a.m. on any random Tuesday, finding an active place while the playing surface rests dark. It’s an integration principle similar to the one adopted in Seoul, where the subway contains shower and changing facilities at transportation nodes, converting transit infrastructure into logistical support for the athlete.
What Gets Asked in Return for a Facility
Inserting massive volumes into a city’s heart requires involvement from neighborhood residents. Public work finds value only if it returns tangible functions to people walking streets. In Milan the Dropcity technical workshop proposed a model centered on mechanical repair and sports-equipment reuse. In Jihlava administration demanded synthetic surface above the stands. When a spectacle structure occupies territory, granting a roof track becomes equitable exchange: the arena gains right to occupy downtown only by offering the running person a suspended place where they measure their effort.
