Udinese Calcio was one of the stars of the show at the Manchester Design & Development Awards organised by TheStadiumBusiness. Bluenergy Stadium’s new Sky Box project, launched in September, won the “Hospitality & Premium” category. Milan-based architectural studio Sordina & Partners’ restyling of the 18 suites won over the judges of the 2023 Design & Development Awards. The suites’ décor was supplied by Midj, a Friulian décor company that has also worked on the hospitality areas of Arsenal and Manchester City as well as Twickenham. The project was honoured for its excellence and quality while being praised for its “innovation, functionality, sustainability, purpose and overall ‘wow’ factor.”
Udinese stood out in the finalist shortlist, which was made up of big international competitors and structures that are famed around the world: UBS Arena Hospitality in New Tork, The Tunnel Club at the Amex Stadium in Brighton (home of the club of the same name), Concert Club at the multipurpose RAC Arena in Australia, the Londoner Arena in Macau and Skyline at the Edgbaston Stadium, a famous cricket stadium in Birmingham.
Top football clubs such as Arsenal, Barcelona, Newcastle, and Real Madrid competed in the ten categories of the Design & Development Awards. Udinese Calcio stood out once again for the excellent standard of its hospitality areas and the innovation and ambition of the projects linked to them, which put us at the top of the sector. At the Sky Box launch event, which was little over a month ago, Udinese General Manager, Franco Collavino, defined them as “a benchmark in the hospitality world.”
The prestigious award fully confirms the global importance of not only the new Sky Box project, but of all the club's work involving its top-class hospitality.