Matmut Atlantique / Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux (Bordeaux)

The Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux, also known as the Matmut Atlantique for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Bordeaux, France. It is the home of Ligue 2 club FC Girondins de Bordeaux.

General information

Official website: www.matmut-atlantique.com

Arena capacity: 42,115 spectators

Address: Girondins de Bordeaux, Cours Jules Ladoumegue, Bordeaux, France, 33300

GPS coordinates for the navigator: 44°53′50″N 0°33′42″W

Year of construction: 2015

Construction cost: €183 million

Field: PlayMaster by Tarkett Sports lawn with dimensions of 105 × 68 m

Seating plan of Matmut Atlantique

Matmut Atlantique is designed in a bowl style, allowing all of the spectators in the ground to have excellent views of the action on the pitch. The design of the stadium also allows for three different configurations depending on whether or not the ground is hosting football, rugby or music concerts.

There are two tiers in the ground separated by a row of 60 executive boxes. There are also seven suites with terraces that allow the occupants to watch the match. As with all grounds it still has four sides to it, named after the geographical area it is located in. The Nord Stand is where the away fans are situated, The Sud Stand has a lower tier that has a dedicated Fan-zone that houses the most vocal Bordeaux fans. The Ouest and Est Stands are the ones that house the executive boxes, meaning that they are more typically filled with well off patrons.

Where to buy tickets?

Ticket prices for Bordeaux games are, as is the case with most teams in Europe, categorised depending on which team Bordeaux are facing and where about in the stadium you’d like to sit. Because of that that prices are often in a state of flux and you’ll often pay different amounts depending on your age and the location within the stadium that you’d like to sit.

Bordeaux also offers reduced prices for youngsters at certain matches.

The club’s official website is an ideal place to start if you’re looking to pick up tickets to see a match at the stadium. You’ll also be able to pick up tickets from Ticketmaster and the Auchan website. You can get tickets directly from the box office at the stadium, though a €2 surcharge is added for the privilege. There is a club shop at the training ground where you can buy tickets, too.

How to get there?

The Matmut Atlantique is about 7 km outside of the centre of Bordeaux, in the heart of the Bordeaux-Lac district.

Train

Getting to Bordeaux from the UK by train is straight forward even if it might take a while. You can get the Eurostar to Paris and then travel from there to Bordeaux on France’s internal rail network. You’ll arrive at Gare Saint-Jean, which is about 3 hours from the country’s capital; it is the largest train station in the Aquitaine region.

Though you can’t get a train to near to the stadium you can get a tram, with Line B and Line C both taking about 8 minutes. Line C departs Bordeaux Parc des Expositions/Cracovie and arrives at Gare de Bègles / Lycée Václav Havel, whilst Line B departs Berges de la Garonne / Bassins à Flot and arrives at Pessac Centre/France Alouette.

Bus

There is an excellent bus system in Bordeaux, but you’d still be better off getting the tram as there aren’t many bus lines that go very close to the new ground.

Car

If you’re looking to drive to the stadium then you’ll find two exits on the Bordeaux Rocade that serve the ground – Exit 4A and Exit 4C.

By Air

The Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport is about 12 km to the west of the city. It has three terminals and is the sixth largest airport in France as far as the amount of passengers it deals with is concerned. It is around 15 minutes away from the stadium.

Taxi

If you were looking to get a taxi from the airport to the stadium then it will take you about 20 minutes but cost more like €35. If you get stuck in traffic then you can expect to pay significantly more and for it to take much longer.

Parking

There are five car parks at the Matmut Atlantique stadium, with 8000 spaces in total. One of them is for VIPs and the media and has around 1250 spaces, as well as a Fair Grounds car park with 6000 spaces. There is a parking area for bikes and motorbikes with about 1250 spaces, the Aubiers parking lot that houses around 246 spaces and the Brandenburg parking lot that can house 206 vehicles.

Where to eat and sleep?

Bordeaux is part of France’s famed wine district, so you can expect to find numerous excellent places to stay in the city. Here are some of our choices, though:

1. ibis Bordeaux Lac. The Bordeaux ibis is around half a mile from the ground and has a restaurant, a bar, meeting rooms, free Wi-Fi and multilingual staff. ibis hotels aren’t the fanciest hotels in all the land, but they’re functional and they’re cheap so you should definitely consider staying here.
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2. Novotel Bordeaux Lac. The Novotel in Bordeaux has free Wi-Fi, free parking, multilingual staff and a restaurant. It also has an outdoor pool and a garden area, so there’s somewhere for you to enjoy some down time before or after the match. Much like the ibis the hotel is around half a mile from the stadium.
3. Hotel Pullman Bordeaux Lac. The Hotel Pullman is a lakefront hotel in the Bordeaux region with 166 guest rooms, a restaurant, an outdoor pool and a fitness centre. There is free Wi-Fi, in-room childcare and self-parking.
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Much like with the hotels, the drinking options in the city are numerous owing to the fact that wine lovers head there regularly. There isn’t much near to the stadium itself, however, so you’ll be well off making sure you get a drink in the centre before you head to the ground. Here are some of our choices:

1. The Houses Of Parliament. The Houses of Parliament is an English themed pub in the heart of Bordeaux. They have beers on draft, bottled ales and non-alcoholic cocktails. They also serve tasty food and show live sport on big screen TVs. An excellent place for a pre-match pint.
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2. The Frog and Rosbif. The Frog and Rosbif is housed inside a former women’s prison that was built in the 16th century. It brews its own beers, something that is unique in the city of Bordeaux. They show live sport and serve delicious food, too.
3. The Blarney Stone. The Blarney Stone is an Irish themed pub in the middle of Bordeaux. It serves Guinness, has friendly bar staff and offers delicious food. They also show live sport on big screens.
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Facilities

The facilities at the Matmut Atlantique are excellent, not least of all the Wi-Fi HD that allows spectators to get online no matter where in the ground they are. Though the stadium is somewhat plain in design you’ll get all of the facilities you’d expect, including places to buy food and drink inside the ground.

There are a number of excellent hospitality options at the Matmut Atlantique, starting with what the club calls ‘Prestige Boxes’. You’ll get access to a buffet before and during the match as well as champagne and fine wines. You’ll also be able to access Château du Haillan, the club’s training area with restaurant and other facilities.

’The Open Box’ is another of the club’s hospitality options. That will see you get a private, glass-fronted box with a view of the pitch as well as access to a buffet served in the Open Box Lounge. ‘The Business Club’ offers cocktails before the game and at half-time in the Stade Chaban-Delmas Club. There are other options available that are well worth exploring if you’re hoping to take advantage of such facilities when you head to Bordeaux.

As a brand new stadium there will doubtless be numerous private hire options at the Matmut Atlantique, and they regularly welcome large business meetings and events, but if you want to know about them then you’d be best off contacting the club directly.

Architectural Aspects

Matmut Atlantique Stadium, designed by Herzog & de Meuron between 2013-2015, stands out as a design that goes beyond the usual stadium architecture. Matmut Atlantique Stadium design was the winning proposal in the competition opened for Bordeaux’s stadium in 2010. The project became a design that left its mark on the years it was built with the interpretation of the stadium and the realization of this concept.

Herzog & de Meuron gave the Bordeaux stadium a special identity. While the large volume expresses openness and accessibility for all, its transparency reveals all the energy and activities that will transform this structure into a new and vibrant part of Bordeaux.

The stadium looks light and open. The purity and geometric clarity it embodies create feelings of monumentality and elegance. At first glance, it looks like a temple. But unlike the raised plinth of a temple, the stadium’s grand staircases blur the boundaries between indoor and outdoor space. As visitors enter and exit the stadium, numerous columns on the stairs accompany them. Thus, the fusion of stairs and columns leads to an image of openness and accessibility in the building.

Particular care was taken to ensure that the stadium fits into the expansive landscape of the city of Bordeaux. The column system and twisting structures created with a meticulous geometric arrangement reflect the patterns created by the trees and roads in the landscape around the building. Although the word “elegance” has become a depreciated description when making architectural definitions, it retains its value when describing the city of Bordeaux’s urban and architectural heritage.

The elegance of Bordeaux inspired this project. Instead of looking for inspiration in the historical part of the city, which consists of breathtakingly beautiful buildings and typical limestone monuments, scale is inspired by the homogeneity of the material and the precision and purity of form as things perceived as elegance in this city.

The geometric form of the 42,000-seat stadium with soft corners, unlike the roof that surrounds the playing field and covers the spectator part of the stadium, provides optimum visibility for everyone and creates capacity and flexibility of use. In this context, the stadium has multiple functions and is designed to host various activities such as shows, concerts, and football competitions.

The middle part of the building, with its oval-shaped form, consists of two layers divided into four sectors and placed on top of each other. The visually sharper, uniform roof allows sunlight to reach the stadium and spectators while directing the spectator’s eye to the playing field. On the other hand, this roof’s structure was designed so that it would not be located inside the stadium in order not to distract the audience and not to divide the view into sections.

The oval structure, sitting on a pedestal, starting with curved lines and evolving into a sharp-edged rectangle on the roof, clearly and efficiently adapts to the natural conditions of the site and the main flow of spectators from east to west.

The curved audience venue, created by being raised from the ground, has a compact base that can accommodate all functions in smooth and symmetrical volumes. This area includes VIP, player, and media areas, evenly distributed east and west.

History

The Matmut Atlantique stadium was built to replace the ageing Jacques Chaban Delmas stadium, which was built in the 1930s. The Parc Lescure, as it was known until the year 2000, was the home of FC Girondins de Bordeaux from 1938 until the club moved to their new home in 2015. The original name of the new stadium was The Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux, but it was renamed as the Matmut Atlantique Stadium for sponsorship purposes.