Five horizontal planted bands wrap the stadium’s compact volume, translating the logic of Maksimir’s paths into its ground plane, terraces and façade. A broad rounded roof floats above a rhythm of slender columns, while open concourses, active ground floors and planted levels soften the scale of the seating bowl and connect it to the park. In the survey area, a network of plazas, pedestrian routes and green corridors organises athletics, sports halls, the swimming complex, football campus and Borongaj as a unified sports district for everyday use.

In the third round, the jury eliminated projects that were well developed but generic, hermetic in their relationship with public space, insufficiently resolved in structural terms, financially demanding or unable to express the primary programme clearly.

A large proportion of the proposals offered a well-articulated but insufficiently specific response to the site and its legacy. A project that retained parts of the existing structure was considered particularly interesting, but this approach was not feasible because the structure had to be demolished due to identified structural deficiencies.