More About the ABBA Arena
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It opened on 26 May 2022 and it was built for one show, ABBA Voyage. What that means when you are inside it is that the building is part of the show: the acoustics, the lighting positions and the way the screens sit were designed around what happens on the stage, rather than the production being fitted into a space that already existed.
The building
The creation of the building was fascinating. A single space, seventy metres across, with no columns in it at all. Eighteen jacks raised the 744-tonne dome 25.5 metres into the air, after it had been put together on the ground. Nothing inside hangs off anything, which is why nothing overhangs any seat.
Outside it is clad in larch battens with the ABBA logo picked out in LED strips, which is what makes it look like a very large dark drum from the DLR. The timber is a nod to Sweden rather than a structural necessity.
It was designed by Stufish Entertainment Architects, built by ES Global, and it is the largest "demountable" venue in the world. Demountable is the whole idea: bolted together, standing on concrete pads, made to come apart and go up again somewhere else.
What was here before
Nothing. The arena is not a conversion of anything. The plot was cleared Olympic Park land, and the building was put up on it from scratch in 2022.
Past productions
None. ABBA Voyage is the only production the ABBA Arena has ever hosted.
About FAQs
How many people does the ABBA Arena hold?
Around 3,000, split between the standing Dance Floor and the seated Blocks, with nearly half of that on the floor. Published figures vary because different sources count the standing and seated parts separately. Around 3,000 is the whole building.
What was the ABBA Arena before it was the ABBA Arena?
Nothing. It is not a converted warehouse or an old venue renamed. It was built from scratch on cleared land in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and opened in May 2022, and it is designed to be taken down and reassembled elsewhere.