Changwon NC Park

Changwon, South Korea

NC Dinos

Populous designed the Changwon City baseball park in South Korea after winning a design competition in 2015. The new stadium, opened in March 2019, is the home ground for top professional baseball team, NC Dinos.

The stadium builds upon the previous site of an athletics venue adjacent to the NC Dinos’ existing home, with a seating capacity of 22,000. It required working with a tight site in a built up residential and commercial area.

Our challenge was to improve the fan experience and improve revenue potential. We considered stakeholder needs and baselined the fan experience across the team’s current home ground and other stadiums across South Korea to better understand fan expectations. This information was then compared with fan experiences at our current projects in the U.S., including the Atlanta Braves’ new home ground at Truist Park. Our role was then to develop a seamless fan experience across the key touch points from commercialization (sponsorship and advertising), wayfinding and non-game day content to drive revenue during off season, food and beverage sales and merchandise.

Populous designed the new park in a way that enhances game day atmosphere by providing a new level of fan experience in South Korean baseball parks while, at the same time, maximizing use on non-event days. The ballpark and surrounding parklands are designed so people can enjoy the site every day of the year. The new park is the only open concourse and the first no wall ground level concourse stadium in Korea.

The ballpark opened in March,  at the start of the 2019 baseball season. The design has efficiently made use of the limited metropolitan space available. Within the stadium, the innovative concourse design results in unassisted wheelchair access and an unobstructed, fully immersive visual experience for fans entering the new ballpark.

The ballpark will offer not only an enhanced fan experience, but increased revenue potential through sponsorship, advertising, merchandise, hospitality, food and beverage and other non-broadcast revenue channels.