A fluid metallic envelope shapes the stadium as a rounded volume of varying height, with an undulating roofline and continuous vertical grooves emphasising its soft silhouette. The seating bowl remains clearly separated from the outer skin, while elevated promenades, running paths and public terraces develop around the building. In the survey area, the same formal language extends to the sports halls, linked by a sequence of bridges, plazas and landscaped routes between Maksimir Park and Borongaj.

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.