Parc Olympique Lyonnais (Décines-Charpieu)

Parc Olympique Lyonnais, known for sponsorship reasons as Groupama Stadium and in some competitions as Stade de Lyon or Grand Stade de Lyon, is a 59,186-seat stadium in Décines-Charpieu, in the Lyon Metropolis. The home of French football club Olympique Lyonnais, it replaced their previous stadium, Stade de Gerland, in January 2016.

General information

Official website: https://www.groupama-stadium.com/

Arena capacity: 59,186 spectators

Address: 10, Avenue Simone Veil 69150 Décines-Charpieu, Rhône, France

GPS coordinates for the navigator: 45°45′55″N 4°58′55″E

Year of construction: 9 January 2016

Construction cost: €415 million

Field: AirFibr hybrid grass lawn with dimensions of 105 × 68 metres (344 ft × 223 ft)

Seating plan of Parc Olympique Lyonnais

When choosing a place in the stadium, use the Parc Olympique Lyonnais scheme above.

Where to buy tickets?

Tickets for Lyon matches can be bought online through the official website through official ticket partner viagogo, in person at the club store at the stadium, or at the OL store at the 104 Rue du President Edouard Herriot in Lyon’s city centre.

Ticket prices depend on the opponent, but expect to pay between €30.00 and €65.00 for an upper tier seat and between €60.00 and €275.00 for a lower tier seat.

How to get there?

Groupama Stadium is located in the Lyon suburb Décines, in the east of the city and just over 10 kilometres from Lyon’s city centre.

The stadium, located right next to the N346 / E15 motorway, is easily reached by car. Get on the N346 from the A42 in the north or the A43 in the south and take exit 6.

If using public transport, the stadium can be reached by tram. The stadium is only a 10-minute walk from station Decines Grand Large of tram line 3, which runs just north of the stadium, but on matchdays a special branch will bring you right in front of the stadium. Line 3 departs from Gare Part-Dieu on the eastern edge of Lyon’s city centre.

Where to eat?

Parc Olympique Lyonnais is located on the edge of the city in a quiet suburb, surrounded by residential housing and farmlands. There is little around in terms of eating and drinking apart from the odd fast-food restaurant, which therefore best done in Lyon’s pleasant city centre.

With the stadium being only opened in 2016, you would expect there to be ample food and drink stands…and there are, all 58 of them! As such there are all different types of food and drinks available to you, from hot dogs and burgers to pizzas and bagels! With that many stands, the queues aren’t usually that bad – however in an attempt to reduce lines even more – download the ‘Parc OL’ app and then you can order food from your seat to pick up when it’s ready!

Also The Parc Olympique Lyonnais proposes an app to order food directly from your seat, which is pretty awesome! However, if you prefer to eat the real French cuisine, then the Brasserie des Lumières will make you even happier. This restaurant is the property of French superstar chef Paul Bocuse, and it is serving amazing food and drinks, as you would expect it in France.

Most will also decide to find a hotel in the centre of Lyon, though if you want to stay close to the stadium, then there are a few roadside hotels around. These will likely most appeal to those arriving by car.

Hotel Grand Est and B&B Hotel Lyon Meyzieu are decent mid-range options located right on the other side of the N346.

Of course, most will decide to stay in Lyon’s city centre, which boasts plenty of options in all price ranges.

Design

The 59,186-capacity Parc Olympique Lyonnais is designed to represent the aspirations of the eponymous local football club, and also of Lyon itself. Populous Activate was commissioned to design the wayfinding strategy and signage for the stadium and surrounding car parks.

The goal of the wayfinding and signage program was to give people the freedom to navigate the stadium easily while they enjoy the events there. This included directing nearly 60,000 people to their seats from multiple points of arrival, as well as sending them out the right way after events.

The signs had to work in daylight, low light and artificial light, in outdoor conditions and luxury suites. They also had to heighten the aesthetic of the building and breathe the spirit of Olympique Lyonnais.

The new building presented an opportunity to provide user-friendly naming, numbering and directions from car parks to seats, delivered through elegant, robustly functional signs. The overarching approach to signage was to use big target signs that, in the first instance, could be painted directly to target functions or, where necessary, could be integrated harmoniously with the surroundings.

The Populous team chose the color palette for functionality and contrast, with a nod to the team’s colors. They specified DIN, a proven signage type and coincidentally also the Olympique Lyonnais brand typeface, as the project typeface.

The size and complexity of the building and surroundings posed particular wayfinding challenges. The stadium is circled by a raised pedestrian area, nearly two kilometers in circumference, connecting it to large underground and outdoor car parks and tram and bus services. Specific entrances lead to specific floors or areas inside the building, making the correct identification of entrances paramount. Entrances were given unique letters and identified by illuminated blades that taper into the mass of the building to echo the geometry of the roof.

Inside the stadium, the ground level is a big, open concourse with dramatic views onto the field of play, punctuated by concrete stairs that load mid-tier seats. The area demanded clear target signs that would have presence in the space but not clutter it. They achieved this through the economical use of signs painted on available surfaces, with signs elegantly suspended only when necessary.

In the upper bowl, the sheer size of the building means one vomitory feeds people into three seating areas. These blocks were named using an innovative ABC system, designed to be quickly understandable in a highly pressurized area, and labeled using attention-grabbing signs painted on vomitory walls.

Another feature of the stadium that needed careful signing was the toilets, some of which can be switched to serve men or women depending on the likely ratio of men to women in attendance. The toilet blocks are identified with signs that are conspicuous from the far end of the concourse without being exaggeratedly large. Where toilets change function between men and women, the signs can be flipped easily using an ingenious locking system.

History

Groupama Stadium, also known as Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Parc OL, or Grand Stade OL, is the recently opened new home of Olympique Lyonnais. It replaced Stade de Gerland as Lyon’s home ground.

Lyon had been looking to build a new stadium from as early as 2007, but saw earlier proposals delayed due to local opposition and a lack of funding because of the financial crisis. The project received the final push when France got awarded the Euro 2016 tournament and Lyon got selected as a host city.

Lyon received their building permit in February 2012, and later that year building works kicked off. Delays however postponed the expected completion date from the summer of 2014 to January 2016.

Parc Olympique Lyonnais officially opened on 9 January 2016 with a league match between Lyon and Troyes (4-1).

The stadium has a capacity of 59,186 seats, of which about 6,000 business seats and 105 lodges. It came at a cost of roughly €600 million, including almost €190 million for improvements in infrastructure.

During Euro 2016, Parc Olympique Lyonnais hosted four group matches, the round of 16 match between France and Rep. of Ireland (2-1), and the semi-final between Portugal and Wales (2-0).

In 2017, the stadium was renamed Groupama Stadium following a 3-year naming rights deal with insurance firm Groupama.

Groupama Stadium was selected to host the 2018 Europa League final.

Construction

On 1 September 2008, Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas announced plans to create a new 60,000-seat stadium, tentatively called OL Land, to be built on 50 hectares of land located in Décines-Charpieu, a suburb of Lyon. The stadium would also include state-of-the-art sporting facilities, two hotels, a leisure center, and commercial and business offices.

On 13 October 2008, the project was agreed upon by the French government, the General Council of Rhône, the Grand Lyon, SYTRAL, and the commune of Décines for construction with approximately €180 million of public money being used and between €60–80 million coming from the Urban Community of Lyon. The project was hindered by slow administrative procedures, political interests, and various opposition groups who viewed the stadium as financially, ecologically, and socially wrong for the taxpayers and community of Décines. After landscaping in 2012, stadium construction started in summer 2013.