Brazil’s Estadio Nacional Stadium. Credit – Castro Mello Architects
Polycarbonate sheets will keep crowds covered whatever the weather at Brazil’s Estadio Nacional stadium throughout this year’s World Cup.
Bayer Material Science provided Makrolon sheets for the venue in the country’s capital city, Brasilia, where they are being used to create a safe and long-lasting stadium roof.
According to Bayer, in the planning of a sports stadium roof, many different requirements must be taken into consideration, including safety, weather resistance, and an attractive design. “Makrolon has all the properties to fulfill this balancing act,” added the company.
Because Brazil lies in a tropical climate zone with high temperatures and heavy rain, the polycarbonate sheets contain both high water resistance and UV protection that will shelter all the 70,000 spectators expected in the stadium.
Bayer says the polycarbonate sheets are sturdy, impact-resistant, and break-proof, with a transparency of over 80 percent. The sheets will also simultaneously promote grass growth.
The final inner ring of the stadium consists of 110 metric tonnes of Makrolon UV 2099, each sheet 12 mm thick and more than 10 meters long. Bayer says the Makrolon UV coating on the sheets is cold-blended to ensure it not only stays in place, but also survive years of weathering even after the tournament is over.
According to footballing body, FIFA, the stadium is Brasilia’s “newest tourist attraction” and has “already become a part of life in the national capital.”
The stadium is scheduled to host seven matches during the 2014 World Cup, including one quarterfinal and the match for third place.