September 13, 2019

Puerto y Martín Gives Madrid’s “Sports Palace” a Concession Stand Update

Black tile by Keops covers free-standing Mahou concession stands at Madrid’s Sports Palace (aka WiZink Cneter). Photography by Antonio Vázquez.

Since 1960, athletics fans and concertgoers have congregated in Madrid’s “Sports Palace,” which was rebuilt in 2005 after a fire and renamed the WiZink Center in 2016. The venue was designed with a rational, ring-shaped circulation scheme that has remained functional but, when it came to concession stands, was in need of a little refreshment.

“It was pretty challenging to face a small intervention within a container that has a massive scale,” explains Puerto y Martín founder Pinar Martín Martín. The scale was indeed huge, with a total area of more than 145,300 square feet within which the Mahou beer concessions could easily get lost. To make them stand out, she says, “we looked into the traditional bars of Madrid, where drinking beer is almost a tradition.”

A powdercoated frame in red and a Cosentino Silestone Eternal Marquina top finish counters in the arena’s exterior spaces. Photography by Antonio Vázquez.

From this inspiration, the studio adopted a material palette of ceramic tiles in graphic black and white trimmed in red. “Ceramic, marble, and wood in balanced combinations usually get displayed toward the street through large metal-framed windows that invite people in,” Martín says. Or in this case, encourage thirsty spectators to score a cold one or two. 

Project Team: Jose Martín Puerto, Pinar Martín Martín (founders), Nicolás Martín Martín.

Keep scrolling for more images from this project >

Finsa melamine covers the Madrid arena’s interior concession stand walls, designed with custom-branded backsplashes. Photography by Antonio Vázquez.
Vinyl decals wrap around columns near interior sales points in Madrid’s Sports Palace (aka WiZink Center). Photography by Antonio Vázquez.
Interior kiosks at Madrid’s Sports Palace (aka WiZink Center) incorporate powdercoated metal frames, white Keops tile, and Cosentino counter tops. Photography by Antonio Vázquez.
Fixtures from Aromas del Campo reference exterior industrial lighting. Photography by Antonio Vázquez.

Read more: Auer Weber and Christophe Gulizzi Architecte Create Dynamic Exterior for Arena du Pays d’Aix

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