Jorge Vizcaya honoured for Bernabéu’s retractable pitch design | OneFootball

Sener’s Head of Sports & Entertainment, Jorge Vizcaya, has been named an ENR Newsmaker 2025 for Real Madrid’s retractable pitch at the Santiago Bernabéu. Engineering News-Record, a US industry title, honours 25 professionals each year for significant advances.

According to El Correo, the system, part of a stadium revamp begun in 2019, stores the turf beneath the surface in an underground greenhouse about 30 metres deep, preserving the pitch while enabling concerts and events. The concept was developed by Sener from a solution called Hypogea.

Sener led a multidisciplinary effort across engineering and architecture with the stadium owner, design teams and contractors. The integration aimed to tailor a first-of-its-kind answer to the Bernabéu.

In 2021, Vizcaya outlined challenges such as developing a bespoke tray-lifting system. He said the extra complexity did not reduce reliability, which had to be proven to Real Madrid, and argued that rival systems could not be installed at the Bernabéu or many other grounds, whereas Sener’s could.

After Hypogea, Sener introduced Epigea, an automated solution with a movable, retractable roof for new, existing or under-construction stadiums. It is modular, adaptable to different capacities and compatible with sporting calendars, as installation does not disrupt matches.

The company also developed Velaria, an automated sky with agronomic systems to improve natural-grass care without touching the pitch. A pilot at San Mamés monitors the turf to provide advanced analysis and optimisation tools, part of a drive towards more versatile, efficient stadiums.

Source: El Correo