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Bella Arena will be the name of Copenhagen‘s new arena, which is being built as an extension of the Bella Centre Copenhagen, Scandinavia’s largest congress, conference and exhibition centre. With room for 7,000 seated guests in the new arena, Copenhagen can host even larger international events in the future. A focus on sustainability throughout the construction process and a partnership with Carlsberg gives Bella Arena a gold certification in sustainable construction.

“In order to attract the largest international congresses, Copenhagen has historically lacked two things: Hotel capacity and a large column-free arena, where the main speaker could speak to 7,000 participants at the same time. The hotels have been added over the last few years, and now we are adding the arena which, together with the rest of Bella Centre, raises the bar for which events we can draw to the capital,” said Christian Folden Lund, CEO of BC Hospitality Group, in a written statement.

The new Bella Arena is connected to the existing Bella Centre via a large glass atrium, so that the arena, the hotel and Bella Centre are now under one roof and can accommodate events with up to 30,000 participants. Bella Arena also gets its own identities and entrances, so that it can be used for cultural events and sporting events at the same time as there are other conference events in Bella Centre.

“The crisis has certainly shown that the capital needs tourists, both holidaymakers, business travellers and those who come to experience special events,” said Mikkel Aaro-Hansen, CEO of Wonderful Copenhagen. “Before the crisis, travellers generated a total turnover of over 50 billion Danish krone (approximately $8 billion) in the capital. So, we have to restore the capital’s tourism—and we must do this through change, focus on sustainability and innovation. We have to create something new, because the competition is only getting tougher. Therefore, on behalf of the capital, I am happy that we can open Bella Arena, which together with Bella Centre makes Bellakvarter a new international hub for business tourism and events.”

Sustainable Construction

Sustainability and accountability are considered in all parts of the Bella Centre and associated hotels, according to Wonderful Copenhagen. Sustainable materials, energy efficiency and circularity have been key focus points, and this has led to Bella Arena achieving the international gold certification within sustainability from DGNB (the German Sustainable Building Council). In close partnership with BC Hospitality Group’s new beverage supplier, Carlsberg, upcycled beer kegs have been used in the process. The upcycled kegs are used together with recycled wood from the original Bella Centre at Bellahoj.

Carlsberg’s contribution to the arena is based on the brewery’s focus on circularity throughout the value chain. The latest innovation is the DraughtMaster-keg that in addition to ensuring better quality and use of the beer will be returned and recycled into new products such as furniture and building materials. In Bella Arena, the upcycled kegs are used for signs and furniture.

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