SKA Arena

SKA Arena stands at 8 Yury Gagarin Avenue in the Moskovsky District. It is a multi-purpose indoor venue built from the ground up through the reconstruction of a 1967 sports palace, rather than a new build. The original structure was a concrete shell; the architecture firm Coop Himmelb(l)au won a competition in 2021 to wrap it in a new skin of glass and steel, completing the work by November 2023.

The arena opened its doors in December 2023 with a capacity of 21,500, a number that was raised to 22,500 for the subsequent playoffs, making it the largest ice hockey facility in the world by seating. The interior is dominated by a media cube of 810 square metres—the largest in Europe—hanging above the artificial ice surface. The rink itself is laid on a concrete technological slab with ground heating, maintaining the 60 by 26 metre playing area.

The facility has been tested early. On 9 June 2024, a fire broke out in one of the stand sections, damaging the ice surface and leading to the club’s initial decision to play elsewhere for the season. The venue has since returned to service. It hosted the KHL All-Star Game at its inauguration, where the attendance record for a hockey match was set at 21,481 spectators, surpassing the previous mark held by Montreal’s Bell Centre. The site is currently used for both sporting events and concerts, with the capacity rising to 23,000 when the parterre floor is utilised for seating.