“The structure of the temporary venue that sits on concrete pads, is designed to create an internal clear span of 70 m to allow for a large 360-degree immersive production. “At the heart of the arena, the auditorium houses high tech capabilities and offers a unique immersive entertainment experience, designed to fit 1,650 seats and space for a standing audience of 1,350,” explained Stufish. The interior layout is also arranged in a hexagonal shape and includes an adjacent concourse area that’s used to shelter visitors with a large timber canopy too.ĪBBA Arena’s interior is arranged in a hexagonal shape and features an eye-catching timber ceiling Its facade features a porous screen of timber battens, with a large ABBA logo depicted on the exterior using LED light strips. Its overall form takes the shape of a hexagon and its roof and wall cladding are designed to mitigate the noise for surrounding residential areas. The building itself consists of timber and steel, and reaches a height of 25.5 m (83.6 ft), with an impressive 70 m (228 ft) column-free dome. The tech behind the show is quite mysterious and the organizers are only willing to share that the performances don’t feature holograms, as has been widely reported, nor do they include the original Swedish pop stars, but instead feature some kind of digital avatars – or “ABBAtars,” as they’re styled. To host the show, Stufish Entertainment Architects has created a large timber arena that can be dismantled and moved with relative ease.ĪBBA Arena is located in East London, near the Olympic Park.
Swedish supergroup ABBA recently launched a virtual concert experience named ABBA Voyage, which involves a digital representation of the stars “performing” their pop hits to a live audience.