Restaurants, bars and museums in Porto · Page 163

Super Bock Arena - Pavilhão Rosa Mota

Massarelos

Stadiums & Arenas

Super Bock Arena, also known as Pavilhão Rosa Mota, is a cultural and sports arena in Porto. It stands in the Jardins do Palácio de Cristal, in the Massarelos neighbourhood, at Rua de Dom Manuel II s/n, 4050-346 Porto. The municipality of Porto owns the building, and José Carlos Loureiro was its architect. The venue's listed hours are Tuesday to Sunday, from 10:00 to 13:00 and again from 14:00 to 18:00, with Monday as a closed day. The pavilion opened in 1954 on the site of Porto's Crystal Palace, which was demolished in 1951 to make room for it. It was first called Pavilhão dos Desportos. In 1991 it took the name of Rosa Mota, the Portuguese marathon runner who was European, World and Olympic champion. The arena was also the final venue of the European Men's Handball Championship in 1994. In 2014, after a public call for tenders, a consortium of Lucios and PEV Entertainment was responsible for the rehabilitation. The initial cost was 8 million euros. In November 2018, Porto's Municipal Chamber announced that, following a naming agreement with Super Bock, the company's name would be added to the arena during a 20-year private concession of the space. The rehabilitation was concluded in 2019, and the redevelopment was inaugurated on October 28, 2019. The renovation kept the building's dome structure. Capacity is adjustable, up to 8,000 seats, along with dedicated rigging systems. The main hall offers a configurable flat multi-purpose area of up to 2,400 m², with two balcony levels above it and 23 private boxes along an intermediate level. When the main hall hosts corporate events, seated capacity rises to up to 5,500 guests. The congress center, on level -1, covers 2,000 m². It includes an amphitheater-style auditorium with 532 seats, an exhibition area of 617 m², and four flat rooms of 70 seats each, which can be combined into two larger rooms holding a maximum of 150 seats. For acoustics, the whole dome structure is covered with multilayer rock wool more than 40 cm thick, and an acoustic shell was installed near the top interior of the dome. On sustainability, water from the lake in the gardens cools the temperature control systems naturally, cutting energy and water use by around 40%. The arena also uses LED lamps and manages waste with a focus on reduction, reuse and recycling. Guided tours lead up to the dome for a 360-degree view of Porto, via about 150 steps.

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