ARENA BRNO up close: Students from FCE BUT visited one of the region’s most significant structures

Students and staff of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Brno University of Technology had the opportunity to go behind the scenes of one of the most significant construction projects in present-day Brno. During three guided tours, they visited the construction site of the multifunctional ARENA BRNO, gaining a unique chance to observe state-of-the-art construction, engineering, and technological solutions in practice.

Both students and faculty staff had a unique opportunity to visit the ARENA Brno construction site. | Author: Svatopluk Pelčák

The Faculty of Civil Engineering at Brno University of Technology has long sought to ensure that students acquire not only theoretical knowledge during their studies, but also the opportunity to confront it with real-world practice. Brno is currently undergoing intensive development involving numerous major construction projects, and ARENA BRNO is among the most prominent. Consequently, the tours organized under the auspices of Zdeněk Dufek attracted exceptional interest among both students and faculty staff.

The excursion was particularly meaningful because the faculty is directly involved in the construction of ARENA BRNO through its experts. In addition to graduates of the faculty, contributors to the project include Aleš Rubina, Head of the Institute of Building Services, and Vice-Dean Tomáš Apeltauer, who is responsible for evacuation and egress modeling. The simulation results provide a basis for refining the building’s fire safety design and optimizing the safety of its future operation.

During the visit, students became acquainted with the principles of ventilation system design, cooling and heating, the design of rooftop heat pumps, and measures preventing the transmission of vibrations into the structure. “The ARENA BRNO project clearly demonstrates the complexity of designing the indoor environment of such facilities. It is not merely a matter of heating or cooling; many interconnected systems must be harmonized to function as a whole. For students, it is valuable to see that even seemingly minor decisions or details can affect the performance of the entire building,” said Aleš Rubina, who also delivered an engaging expert lecture focusing primarily on the arena’s indoor climate solutions.

Students were able to observe firsthand how theoretical knowledge of building services engineering is applied to the design of such a large and technologically demanding structure. “In hockey mode, approximately one million cubic meters of conditioned air will circulate through the arena, supplied by several dozen independent air-handling units,” Rubina explained. An important role is also played by special systems designed to create distinct microclimates in different parts of the building – conditions required for spectators in the stands differ from those directly above the ice surface.

Participants also toured parts of the future back-of-house facilities, commentary booths, and the space beneath the roof from which the multimedia cube scoreboard will be suspended. The excursion thus offered not only a professional insight into the building’s technical solutions, but also a unique opportunity to explore spaces that will eventually host sporting, cultural, and social events.

Such excursions are an important component of education. They allow students to see that civil engineering is not merely about drawings, calculations, and models, but is above all a discipline that shapes cities and creates structures with a lasting impact on public space and everyday life. ARENA BRNO is precisely the kind of modern building that every civil engineering student in Brno should experience in person.

Source: Faculty of Civil Engineering

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Link https://www.vut.cz/en/but/f19528/d345847
Faculty of Civil Engineering