As a Spurs fan who has only once travelled to an away game, I had never managed to find my way to the ‘dark side’ of North London. Having some spare time over recent weeks led me to question whether any claim I may have for credibility in terms of my stadium writing could really be justified when I was refusing to take a look at such a significant specimen so close to home. Perhaps age has mellowed me, and I may finally be growing up a bit – after all, I did buy my first red car last year – so, I decided it was finally time to look past my misgivings and book up for the tour of Emirates Stadium. Still allowing me to retain the same illogical pride that would once stop me buying anything made by JVC, I didn’t part with any of my own cash directly (I have since moved away from this futile stance by purchasing phone contracts with O2 and flying with Emirates). Instead, I made use of a Red Letter Day voucher I’d been gifted, which had been waiting for the world to open up post-lockdown, to pay for the tour.

I felt somewhat uneasy walking out of Arsenal station and through the entrance to the stairs at Highbury House, reminding myself to focus on the stadium and not the club. I was quickly struck by how well such a major structure hides between the railway lines that converge just to its north. This was the first fundamental difference I noticed with the similarly sized Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which shouts loudly and proudly about its presence for miles around. The Emirates only makes itself known publicly from the south west corner, rising up above the club shop to the wide expanses of the concourse that surrounds the whole venue; another major difference to Spurs’ roadside location.

From the outside, the stadium retains the look of a new build. This continues internally; the whole place looks in surprisingly good shape given that it opened almost 16 years ago. The general impression walking around the perimeter is that the lower level is more about functionality than trying to impress, which probably reflects the advances in expectations over the years. Trying my best to quash any biases I have, I personally prefer the expanses of glass used in Spurs’ design that rise up from ground level. However, despite no longer being the capital’s shiniest and newest place of footballing worship, Arsenal’s place holds up well. 

Inside, the Directors’ lounge has a remarkably similar look and feel to that of the Emirates lounge in Dubai airport, mainly down to the dark wood that is widely used for the panelling. It’s not ultra-modern, but I’m sure it provides a sufficient sense of luxury for its guests.

The seating bowl has a pleasing uniformity, with a ring of four levels that run uninterrupted around the pitch. That being said, I am drawn more towards something with a little more variety, like the huge single-tier South Stand at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Atléti retaining the original main stand at the Metropolitano, and the way that Brentford have shoe-horned a stadium into their available space, leading to some abstract shapes in the design of their stands and the resulting roofline. 

The red seating is a bit faded in parts, but that is one of the few signs of age across the entire building. The replica clock and renaming of the southern stand as the ‘Clock End’ in homage to Highbury is a nice touch, but the clock itself looks like a cheap add-on that doesn’t give the impression of something that was considered in the original plan; this feels like a big miss. The equivalent for Spurs is the replica of its original cockerel, which had its own purpose-built prominence high above the pitch. I suspect that this is a lesson that was learned from the Emirates and is one clear advantage of following rather than leading; as was Daniel Levy’s decision to make the capacity slightly larger – very much a case of being able to say ‘mine’s bigger than yours’. 

Elsewhere in the seating bowl, there are just two large screens in opposite corners. This may be enough from a practical sense, but now looks dated given the vast spaces available in each corner under the roof. Additionally, the advertising boards are fixed on the upper levels, which is one noticeable difference with the latest stadia that make full use of this digital advertising and communication capability. Much was made of Tottenham’s stands being so much closer to the pitch than at other comparable stadia (read: The Emirates), but I was surprised that this wasn’t immediately apparent; afterall, it has nothing on the experience at London Stadium, despite the determined efforts to improve the situation for Hammers fans.

My first interaction with one of the stadium team was at the museum entrance as I was trying to find the start of the tour. Here I found a fellow stadium geek who was happy to chat about the places he’d visited around the world and how much he was looking forward to the opportunity to compare his “cathedral” with mine. He was just one of a number of lovely guides I met throughout the tour. One of whom showed himself to be a far bigger man than me, as it turned out he was a fellow Spurs fan. Despite the club conflict, the chance to work in one of these iconic structures would be tough for anyone with a pull towards sport or stadia to turn down.

The self-guided tour is worth taking no matter who you support. If you have similar concerns about visiting one of your rivals, this is far from being an outlet for Arsenal’s self-congratulation. And you can easily bypass some of the more celebratory elements, especially as the museum is an optional extra that you can ignore entirely at the end of the tour, as I did. Feel free to use my line whenever asked to pose for a photo opportunity with a trophy in front of a green screen: “I don’t do trophies as a Spurs fan,” I joked. I guess this would also work for a lot of other clubs, although, I suspect I was not the first to say something along those lines.

If you do find yourself with a bit of extra time whilst in the area, the short walk from Arsenal station to Highbury will take you back to the 1930s with the well preserved Art Deco façade of the East Stand now the frontage for one of four blocks of flats that make up Highbury Stadium Square. The way that the East and West Stands have been retained and repurposed, whilst adding new buildings in place of the North Bank and Clock End, all surrounding gardens that mark the location of the pitch, is simply a work of genius that has led to one less grand old stadium being completely lost.

All in all, I had a very pleasant afternoon of geeking-out on stadia in an alien part of North London. I think the sunshine helped, but I still came away with that familiar feeling of contentment at having had the opportunity to see a different stadium up close. Most surprisingly, any of the original doubts and feelings of treachery I’d had beforehand had completely melted away.

The March issue of Stadia magazine sees a slight change from my usual writing. Here I investigate the worlds of sound and vision within sporting arenas, and speak with a couple of experts to gather their thoughts on the directions of their respective industries:

Click here to read the full article 

 

I recently joined a telecommunications company whose raison d’être is to support migrants, and to make lives in their new home countries as easy and comfortable as possible. As part of the new-joiners’ induction process, everyone is usually asked to tell their migrant story; for a number of very valid reasons, I have so far avoided that induction question. In discussing this yesterday, it did make me wonder what mine would be. As somebody born, raised and still residing in Essex, and of English parentage, this isn’t an immediately obvious question for which I can find an answer. I know I have some German and Irish ancestors, but I don’t know much about their stories and what brought them to Britain. Out of the blue, it struck me that we can be affected by migrants with whom we have no family links when I read the sad news that renowned architect Dame Zaha Hadid had died, aged just 65.

You may have read a number of articles already about Hadid and her stellar career. You may also have your own thoughts about her designs and her reputation for provoking controversy. For me, Hadid will forever be a huge part of my history and is, perhaps, the most influential migrant to have touched my life. 

That link is very loose as I never met Hadid in person. That said, I adored her unique designs with their flowing lines and curved edges that boldly appeared to ignore any attempt to fit in with the surrounding architecture. She didn’t seem to care for cost or how her designs would be realised; she simply got on with her life-mission to create visions of beauty and allowed the arguments to rage around her.  

The greatest impact she had on me was the design of the London Aquatics Centre for London 2012. This was a place that I was fortunate to be able to call home for the best part of eight months during that outstanding Olympic year.

I instantly fell in love with the curved roof and the internal smooth raw concrete walls and the abundance of glass. Unlike Hadid, I didn’t mind the lack of sophistication in the design of the wings to house the temporary seating; I was in awe at the simplicity and ingenuity that would enable this venue to be a raucous home to Olympic and Paralympic aquatics events before eventually reverting to its intended legacy mode. In its final form, it provides the most elegant of gateways to the Olympic Park and will forever be seen as the building that raised her profile to the wider public. 

Architecture’s loss is shared by two countries who can claim to have lost one of their own. Not only have we seen the passing of one of Iraq’s finest, we can also proudly claim her to have been one of Britain’s Great Dames.
 

 

The future of sports and entertainment venues is something of a hot topic in stadium circles, and with my own football team’s stadium project having been given the green light this week, it seemed an opportune time for me to take a closer look at this debate. PanStadia and Arena Management magazine has just featured their project with renowned stadium experts Populous, which looked into the venues of the future, but I’ve also recently read an intriguing article by Jeff Beckman titled ‘The Future of Stadiums’. Beckman questions where stadium design may head in the future and whether there is a need for them at all. He referenced the ongoing competition amongst NFL cities to build ever-grander venues and the exorbitant costs of these venues, with price tags starting at $1bn (approximately £665m) and breaching the £1bn barrier ($1.5bn) in some cases.

These behemoths can be a jaw-dropping sight and are successfully pushing the boundaries of what is feasible in stadium design. The eye-catching circular retractable roof (similar to the opening of a camera lens) of the Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta will be something entirely new in the world of stadium roofing when it opens in 2017.

There are two key things that distinguish these new NFL stadia from venues in the UK.

Firstly, there is a huge appetite to provide a plethora of facilities focussed on the spectators to help enhance their game day experience, as if the match itself cannot sate the crowd’s appetite. Having also written about the differences between NHL arenas in North America, this appears a consistent theme in the United States; whereas Canadian hockey fans want to be close to the action above all else. To us Brits, the focus is also on the sport and the main wish is for a reduction in queues for toilets and food and drink concessions so that we don’t miss any of the action on the pitch. Personally speaking, being able to use my mobile phone before a match and during breaks would be a nice-to-have, although there has even been a backlash to the provision of Wi-Fi at football grounds as the die-hards believe that you shouldn’t be there if you want to catch up on the latest scores from elsewhere or, heaven forbid, post an update to social media.

Secondly, the United States is blessed with significant amounts of space and has a far lower expectation for spectators to travel by public transport, whereas many larger football stadia on this side of the pond tend to find themselves with rather more limited space if they want to redevelop their existing home or build from scratch close by.

Additionally, the level of expense for club venues on the scale seen in the US is simply not an option for self-funded projects with little or no public finances available to help. Supporters wouldn’t accept the impact on their team’s finances, and finding the capital to fund such an expense would be impossible for all but the likes of Manchester City. Fortunately, and partly down to the lower expectations about the need for peripheral distractions, truly world-class venues with 60,000-plus capacities in the UK can still be realised for closer to £400m ($600m). Elsewhere in Europe, costs for even the largest stadia are often lower still.

Beckman’s article also puts the high costs stateside into starker context by highlighting the lifespan of some stadia alongside the relatively low number of events. With a number of venues being replaced or redeveloped every 20-30 years, costs per event can become astronomical. Such timescales are often no different in the UK: Chelsea are looking to rebuild their Stamford Bridge home, which was developed throughout the 1990s and finalised in 1998; White Hart Lane completed its latest development in 1998 (albeit that the main West Stand dates back to 1982); and West Ham’s newest stand opened as recently as 2001. I’d be surprised and disappointed to see these new structures replaced after just 20-30 years given that venues like Munich’s Allianz Arena (opened in 2005) and The Emirates (opened in 2006) retain an air of the ultra-modern. Sure, there will be some tweaks, but the genuine belief of clubs like Spurs is that these new stadia should become home to generations of fans to come. And the idea of one-upmanship is not exactly alien to England’s Premier League, with Spurs amending their original plan to take their proposed capacity from 56,250 to 61,080 – making it the largest club stadium in London and, most importantly, slightly larger than The Emirates! That said, I wouldn’t bet against Chelsea finding a way to squeeze in a few more seats to take that particular crown.

One of the main concepts in Beckman’s article was the idea of reducing this excessive cost and making better use of each stadium on a more regular basis. In European football, the key difference is the number of event days. The more successful teams can expect to play between 25 and 30 home matches each season. Using my favoured example, Spurs are expecting that there will be a further 16 events using the full stadium each year; providing far greater value than many NFL venues. Integration with the local area is another important factor to ensure that a stadium becomes either a 365-days-a-year attraction and/or has facilities in demand by the local community. Whilst many other new venues are broadening their use with conferencing facilities, Spurs are ensuring that their development encompasses the club’s requirement for a new venue, the financial reality of needing to encourage visitors throughout the year and the provision of new jobs and facilities for those living in an otherwise neglected corner of north London. A few miles to the south, the O2 Arena is a perfect illustration of a leisure and entertainment hub that is in regular use, even when there is no event in the main arena itself. Provided new stadia are not built too remotely, having a second life as a business, community, entertainment or leisure hub must be a consideration for all future stadium and arena builds.

The most drastic notion that Beckman suggested was the possibility of having no permanent stadium at all, or at least of having elements of temporary spectator stands to cope with peak demand. Personally, I am a fan of the idea of integrating venues as part of a multi-functional complex and leaving seating capacity expansion as an option. This is logical for one-off events or short tournaments, but not for a football team who sells out regularly. However, such is the development in the ‘pop-up’ venue sector; this could be a great option for smaller teams who may just want the flexibility to expand occasionally for the largest matches or for smaller grounds to be able to boost capacity to provide additional stadia when bidding for major tournaments and events. London 2012 took the lessons from previous Games, particularly Athens 2004, and managed to dodge white elephant syndrome by creating venues in iconic locations and allowing them to return to normal in the weeks that followed, much as is the case with Monaco’s F1 circuit and the Palio de Siena – a horse race that takes place in a medieval piazza.

I’ve mentioned previously that the ultimate goal for any stadium architect must be to create a truly multi-purpose venue that can transform itself for different sports and events. This Holy Grail is now becoming less of a dream, with real examples already in use or under construction. One of the most brilliantly conceived is the Saitama Super Arena in Japan: a 37,000 capacity indoor stadium capable of hosting American Football, with a 9,000 seat block that can move back and forth 70 metres to create a more intimate 22,000 seat arena and an exhibition space in the void that remains. It is a remarkable feat of design and engineering, but one that is unlikely to be replicated too often as full-sized field sports rarely need a roof. This level of flexibility is far better suited to arenas that want the ability to host a variety of traditional indoor events as intimately as possible. Returning, finally, to north London, the new White Hart Lane embraces the availability of these new powers of transformation in providing a sliding pitch. With a 10-year deal to host at least two NFL matches per season, the ability to protect the sacred turf is essential; after all, the stadium’s core raison d’être is as a home for a top-flight football team. In addition to the safeguarding of the surface, the team is also protected as the extra income from other events will help ensure that the new venue doesn’t become a burden and a ready-made excuse for reduced levels of performance on the pitch brought about by an inability to compete financially. Only the future will tell if this is the ideal blueprint for stadium development.

Image: Tottenham Hotspur

Despite England’s early exit and the disappointment of the northern hemisphere teams all departing before the semi-finals, Rugby World Cup 2015 closed with an abundance of great memories and a declaration from World Rugby that the tournament had been the “biggest and best”. It seems fitting to reignite my blog writing with a reflection on the tournament and its venues, and in particular the challenges of transitioning stadia for use in a major tournament, especially when the sport involved may be alien to that venue.

One of the toughest choices at the outset was where to play the matches; not only to maximise the opportunities for fans to purchase tickets but also recognising that this tournament is rugby’s main stage from which to pitch to the world. Whilst this country now has enough large modern stadia to host these global events without the need for vast construction programmes, the focus is firmly on football. The organisers wanted to utilise rugby venues and in choosing Sandy Park and Kingsholm, they ensured some of this country’s most fervent rugby fans got the chance to see the tournament in their more compact backyards. With the colossuses of Millennium Stadium and Twickenham added into the mix, the use of four dedicated rugby venues was probably a fair balance; although Leicester may not agree. 

The use of King Power Stadium, or ‘Leicester City Stadium’ for the purposes of the tournament, over Leicester Tigers’ ground was probably the hardest decision of all. Welford Road has undergone significant developments to make it the largest dedicated club rugby venue in England, yet the facilities were not deemed suitable and the pitch too narrow for a world cup. Despite the protestations and scare-mongering about low attendances, over 27,000 were treated to a record-breaking comeback by Romania and even larger crowds witnessed two visits by the hugely entertaining and successful Pumas. Having watched Romania’s famous win first-hand, I was amazed by the atmosphere generated for what might have been mistaken for a dead-rubber. The Romanian fans I sat with didn’t see it that way as they chanted and cheered their team as they clawed their way back into the contest and on to victory. And, for the record, it didn’t look as though they felt they were missing out by not playing in a ‘rugby’ stadium.  ‘Leicester City Stadium’

I managed to visit seven venues during the tournament, and I have also been fortunate enough to have seen all 13 in the flesh over the past couple of years, giving me a privileged insight into the challenges of setting these stadia up for the Rugby World Cup bandwagon to roll into town, or 11 cities in this instance.

Whilst every venue needed some transitional work to make it tournament-ready, the football-specific venues only had to cater for three fundamental adjustments: new post sockets; added protection for players sliding from the field of play; and alcohol. The last of these needs a major mindset shift in the stewarding teams who otherwise police the vomitories to make sure that any alcohol served on venue remains firmly out of sight of the seating bowl. The other issue that alcohol highlights in football stadia seems to be the tightness of the seating configuration. I’m not sure if it is just an illusion, but the intimate layout is certainly not conducive to carrying four pints to your seat.

What is universal is the need for venues, no matter how modern and built to be future-proof, to make adjustments to their configuration and tried and tested operating models. A feature of major events is that the governing bodies are always demanding more. From larger perimeter advertising boards, to additional press tribune seats, every venue needs at least a few tweaks.

The simplest and most dramatic adjustments come from the overlaying of branding for a major event. Rugby World Cup’s partner in providing the right look across its venues, Icon, managed to take the branding guidelines to create a bright new look and feel to even the tired, ageing and most basic of stadia. Part of this overlay is also to clean stadia of existing and often conflicting branding. The addition of coloured panels and decals in the quantity used had such an effect on so many venues, I will be interested to see if any of these low-cost ideas give owners enough food for thought to want continue to dress their buildings in this season’s trends that are uniquely wearable for all shapes and sizes.

It is probably not surprising that Sandy Park and Kingsholm needed additional temporary buildings to supplement the space available to the media and workforce, since these venues are not used to the influx of people required to put on an event of this scale. And whilst many venues were able to repurpose space for the duration of the time England 2015 were in town, you might be amazed to discover that demand for extra facilities in Cardiff and Twickenham, and even the super-sized Wembley, were such that these mini-cities still needed to procure additional space to enable every client group to operate effectively.

Stadium architects can only plan for what is known, expected and required of them in their designs, and with the largest events billed as once-in-a-lifetime experiences, there is little wonder as to why Leicester Tigers have chosen not to make their development plans with the occasional global tournament in mind. Their prime objective, quite rightly, is to ensure that they have the best possible stage for their team to perform at the highest attainable level. Whether anybody will ever build a venue that can be all things to all people is debatable. Wembley is as close as we get at present, and though it has scope to transform for athletics, even it may struggle to host international cricket. There may be one place in the UK that could rival it over the coming years, and that from a stadium that was originally built with a different future in mind to the one which is evolving.

The most significant conversion required for the visit of rugby’s giants was reserved for the Olympic Stadium, or the mouthful that is ‘The Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’ (QEOP), to give it its official title. As an aside, to call your venue The Stadium works perfectly whilst you are in the pleasant confines of QEOP, but it is going to confuse a hell of a lot of tourists and occasional visitors looking for the playground of Jess, Mo, Usain and friends. Try searching ‘The Stadium, London’ into Google Maps – it’s not that obvious! I’m sure this name will evolve again once West Ham move in.

I’ve written in the past about this stadium and the Hammers’ fortune at being virtually gifted a brand new venue and a gilt-edged opportunity to move themselves on to a higher plane, but it was always with a doubt as to how successful the transition of this venue might be, even after moving the lower tier of seating closer to the pitch.

I’d expectantly hoped for some kind of mechanical solution that would see the lower sections of the seating bowl seamlessly glide across the athletics track into position for ball sports and back again for track and field (and hopefully cricket), much as is in place at the Stade de France in Paris. At first glance on TV, the illusion is of a perfect transformation; looking across from the main camera positions and the broadcast studio, you are presented with the appearance of one continuous tier of seating neatly joining the upper and lower sections, whilst hiding the spectator concourse from view in the process. However, this is only on the eastern side of the stadium. The other three sides do not allow anything so tidy; in fact, there are yawning chasms created between the main concourse and the lower tier, with the expanse spanned by a series of bridges. Whilst these voids look bizarre, there is little else that could have been done, such is the design of the upper tiers and the presence of the gigantic video boards at either end. The surprise element comes from discovering just how straightforward the lower tier solution is. The structures may appear temporary but, once the bridges and the upper sections of the eastern extension have been removed for storage, the rear supports simply fold away allowing the stepped seating to retract to rest above the old concrete stands so that athletics can return each summer. Despite my disappointment at the slightly jumbled final layout and all my reservations about the transition from the home of Olympians, the stadium’s eye-catching new roof adds a wow-factor all of its own. Not only will spectators stay dry, but the atmosphere generated, and enhanced by the stomping of feet on the suspended flooring of the lower bowl, will struggle to escape.

As unorthodox as elements of ‘The Stadium’ may be, the combined effect, even in spite of the distance of the upper levels from the pitch, somewhat surprisingly works. It is far from perfect, but the five successful Rugby World Cup matches this autumn have played a massive role in proving to West Ham that they have a golden opportunity to thrive as a tenant in what is effectively the most costly council house ever constructed. Sure, as a fan of a rival team, I am a little bitter, but then competition is meant to be a good thing. With my pragmatic stadium fan’s hat on, I’m more than happy to have had my concerns disproven and for this most versatile and now historic of venues to have such a bright future.  ‘The Stadium’ – lower tier contrasts

With World Rugby moving its focus to Japan in 2019, our little corner of north-west Europe can proudly add the title of best host of arguably the third biggest sporting event to that for the top of the pile just three years ago. With an array of fantastic stadia and events expertise galore, all supported by an army of enthusiastic volunteers, England should be more than ready, willing and able to make it a one, two, three once FIFA sorts its act out.

This summer I was lucky enough to meet François Moreau, the architect behind Quebec City’s new indoor arena. In this article I take a look at the attempts of this hockey-mad city to bring their NHL team back home…

http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/bcb1b46b#/bcb1b46b/16 

 

July saw a proud moment in my evolution as a stadium writer, with my first two freelance articles published in Stadia magazine.

If you fancy a read (and a look at the amazing photos) follow the links below:

• FC BATE’s Borisov Arena http://t.co/Sj4oyFT6oq  
• Bursaspor’s Timsah Arena http://t.co/fd57IJkrDo  

Wimbledon’s move to Milton Keynes remains one of the most unpopular decisions to have been made in the history of English football, with the club widely derided for taking the team away from their South West London roots. The reality is that the club had already become nomadic wanderers around South London and didn’t have a place to call their own.

As with all arguments, there are two sides to this story. Wimbledon fans and much of the wider football community were appalled that The Dons were to be become what is often described as a franchise club. I know distances are not quite so great, but another club from south of the river decided to move its home further north back in 1913 and nobody refers to Arsenal as a franchise club! To quote from Arsenal’s own website, their move from Woolwich “was borne of ambition and necessity. Without it, the Club may not even have survived”. As with Arsenal’s move, Wimbledon’s owners felt they needed a new home ground to ensure the survival of their club.

Whichever side of the fence you sit, MK Dons continue to exist and they remain as ambitious as they ever were. For the romantics and the original fans unwilling to move, AFC Wimbledon have taken the place in their hearts that was previously reserved for the Crazy Gang.

The town of Milton Keynes was created almost from scratch, with many of its early residents and businesses relocating from London, making this “new town” an apt choice for the home of this virtually new club. The town had long wanted to build a major stadium, but didn’t have a team. With none of the more local clubs wanting a move and Wimbledon struggling financially, a deal was eventually struck. After a few years at the National Hockey Stadium, MK Dons eventually moved to their new ground in 2007.

If you were to watch a match at Stadium mk on TV, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is just another identikit new stadium. But, there is far more to this venue than first meets the eye. In the best traditions of all things MK, it is part of a purpose-built new development; with the site incorporating huge superstores, a retail park, high street eateries and a cinema. Situated away from the town’s railway stations, there is plenty of parking, which is supplemented by shuttle buses connecting Milton Keynes Central station on a match day. That said, traffic is a challenge that needs to be addressed for the, to date, rare occasions when the stadium has been close to capacity. Preparations for Rugby World Cup matches should help ensure that the club and the town are both ready for the increase in attendances that will come following promotion to the Championship.

I’ve found myself working at two events at Stadium mk in the past few weeks and I’ve become a huge fan of the external look and its practicality in terms of design and function. It is a blueprint for clever simplicity. The black seating forms an enclosed bowl, with most spectators entering directly at the concourse level which forms a continuous loop at the top of the lower tier, offering uninterupted views of the playing surface. Whilst there are private corridors for use by stadium staff and the club, the way the building flows in these continuous loops, akin to the roundabouts MK is famous for, makes getting lost an almost impossible task.
Maximising use of the venue throughout the year is achieved in two ways. Firstly through the hotel (and its conferencing facilities) that is seamlessly incorporated into the building, so much so that the event control room is accessed via a private door in a hotel corridor. Having first walked these corridors looking for my room and studying the myriad of stunning photos adorning the walls that chart the development of the stadium, I’d not realised the level of integration that existed as I walked past the control room completely oblivious to its presence; in fact, when I needed to find it for operational reasons at an event the next day, I struggled! The second is another fully integrated appendage providing a 3,420 sqm arena space, suitable for exhibitions; indoor sports and concerts with a 4,600 capacity; or simply an area in which to extend the match day food and beverage provision and offer some respite from the elements. 

The decision to build the stadium in stages highlights further this clever simplicity. The lower tier of seating, along with hotel rooms in the west stand, was completed first, enabling the club to move in with a more than ample seating capacity for a growing club mostly plying its trade in League One. The upper tier remained as barren concrete terraces for many years before seats were recently added to take the capacity from 22,000 to 30,700. The upper tier, accessible from the main concourse, can be closed off entirely and only opened for the busiest days. In addition to the extra seating, more hotel rooms have been added above the seating bowl, giving the impression of a completed project. However, the expansion may not stop there, with plans currently mothballed for a further tier of seating to be added that could push capacity towards 45,000. Whilst that is a long way from the typical 9,000 football attendance, the club are well positioned to continue their growth. The stadium itself is ready, willing and able to host other events, with the Rugby World Cup coming this autumn and Northampton Saints close enough to become temporary tenants for their biggest matches. In addition to the growth of The Dons, Stadium mk was part of the failed England 2018 World Cup bid and I’m sure would push its way into contention once Blatter finally departs and the FA feel ready for another dart at hosting a major tournament. In the shorter term, Spurs could yet make use of this gem of a stadium whilst their own new build is under construction. I’d be more than happy to make the trek north to see it full on a regular basis. Although by the time that happens MK Dons could already be an established Premier League team.

Stadium mk is also a model of economic pragmatism, with each phase having been funded through the sale of the surrounding retail space. This has brought people and a vibrancy to the area that ensures the stadium does not feel as if it is stuck out in the middle of nowhere. 

Whatever you may think of the ‘franchise’ club that calls Stadium mk home, it’s hard to deny that this venue provides a model for others to follow, successfully balancing practicality, looks, costs and future-proofing.

 

Let me start with an ‘official’ definition of architecture. Oxford dictionaries opts for a simple “art or practice of designing and constructing buildings”. Dictionary.com expands this to “the profession of designing buildings, open areas, communities, and other artificial constructions and environments, usually with some regard to aesthetic effect.”

In my view, architecture is the design of spaces that need to be functional, optimise the use of available space, give the client what they want (even if that means helping shape their thoughts) and are sensitive to cost, but all the while having one eye on pushing convention and creating something that is aesthetically pleasing and that compliments, or even enhances, its immediate environment.

The most visible and frequently talked about pieces of architecture tend to be large towers in our main cities and aspirational homes in magazines and on TV programmes like Grand Designs. There are, of course, many other outstanding pieces of architecture, from museums and shopping centres to majestic bridges spanning valleys and rivers. In general, the examples people notice have one thing in common; they range from just the big to the utterly enormous. The other ubiquitous  trend of recent times for architecture of the four-walled variety has been glass, or at least the need to make use of natural light and to give great views out from within.

Stadia and other sporting arenas offer a great opportunity for an architect to create a statement landmark building, as well as providing the owners with a way of distinguishing themselves with a place that not only works for the functional elements of an event, but that has a pull of its own that draws new people in to take a look.

Unlike many other buildings, a stadium project presents a number of very unique challenges alongside an opportunity to showcase creativity, ingenuity and to push the limits of engineering with a visionary combination that could otherwise be applied to towers, bridges or even shopping centres. The stadium provides a canvas for expression with almost limitless boundaries. Most new stadia have a vast footprint and for those needing a large capacity, height is on offer. Offices and hospitality spaces are required and the roofing allows for amazing supporting structures to span each ‘valley’ between the corners. Sliding roofs cover expanses otherwise seen only in new airport terminals. And ingenuity is called for when looking to make use of every square metre of space under the concrete seating bowl. 

Together with the chance to find ways of lighting such a great space; ensuring the acoustics are optimised to keep the crowd noise within; making sure each client group has the space they need; using nature to help heat and cool as much as possible, whilst keeping the worst of the weather out and letting sunshine in, and accounting for the requirements of TV and the governing bodies of a variety of sports, the architect must always remain conscious of the need for spectator safety. 

The external shell of a stadium is another opportunity in itself, with a chance to experiment with glass, and any number of materials to create an outer skin. Of course, another option is to go skeletal, and let the world see your frame, as is the case around three-quarters of Twickenham Stadium. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and this beholder would like to see it cover up, if only to make the match-day experience a little more pleasant. As any 6 Nations match day visitor will testify, Twickenham really embraces the use of natural ventilation and cooling at its most basic level!

I’ve recently been fortunate enough to speak to one of the principal architects behind NK Maribor’s Ljudski Vrt stadium (that’s in Slovenia) and FC BATE’s Borisov Arena (in Belarus) to understand some of these challenges and opportunities first hand. Whilst neither stadium is all that large (both capacities of around 13,000), a number of design considerations had to be taken into account. Despite the requirements for a compact arena, the architects, OFIS, successfully created two stunning landmark buildings. The Ljudski Vrt in Maribor worked around the original arched concrete roof of the existing main stand, beautifully blending new with old in dramatic fashion. The walkways that circumnavigate the new seating bowl with their glass barrier to the outside world don’t feel they belong in a stadium, but add to the internal look and feel and give an impression of something very different to a football stadium from the outside. OFIS also considered operating costs by allowing all that daylight in at the back of the stands and designing the roof to be translucent, meaning that the floodlights also illuminate spectator areas, reducing the need for additional lighting. 

  Ljudski vrt. Image: Tomaz Gregoric

Borisov was a different proposition; a new build, with more space available set within a pine forest on the outskirts of the town. The challenge here was to integrate a stadium with its immediate environment. Whilst the shape and look is not particularly in keeping with what you might expect in a forest, the way that the parking has been hidden amongst the trees, and the landscaping has been provided by nature, means that this unusual design doesn’t seem too out of place. Natural light and ventilation come from the spots around the aluminium skin, which are semi-transparent and vented. This skin also keeps the worst of the Belarusian weather out and enhances the atmosphere inside, which BATE’s players are said to appreciate as it makes the stadium feel full even with a lower attendance for their smaller league games.

  Borisov Arena. Image: Tomaz Gregoric

Whilst a few architecture firms specialise in sporting venues, OFIS are not strictly stadium experts. They are brilliant ‘generalist’ architects, if such a term exists, who design a range of buildings, from chapels to apartment blocks. But, it was their first stadium design in Maribor that put them on the map, highlighting just how important a stadium project can be for an architect. Moreover, much as stadia clearly need architects, I believe architecture needs stadia as they provide such a diverse opportunity to explore and experiment with a variety of ideas, which produce buildings that vast numbers of people get the chance to enjoy.

Architecture and me

As an aside, I’ve written previously that I’ve recognised in recent years that I’d have loved to have been an architect, designing fantastic, unique stadia. I know it’s probably too late to qualify as an architect, but it is a dream that keeps coming to the surface, and it is this thought that prompted this particular article. I’ll keep writing and remain hopeful that one day I might just be able to influence the design of at least one stadium!

Finishing touches and evolution

Once stadia are built, their development needs to continue in order to ensure long term usage. Some are adjusted, some rebuilt, and a few are abandoned or lost forever. All the while, in other cities, there are those looking to learn from the past successes and mistakes to give birth to the next generation of super stadia and to become major sporting hubs.

London will certainly not give up it’s status at the top of the sporting tree without a fight. It’s current Premier League football clubs are all considering or well on the way towards following Arsenal’s lead in moving up the property ladder. Lord’s continues to explore ways of ensuring the 201 year-old spiritual home of cricket retains its heritage whilst enhancing its facilities in line with the latest spectator experience expectations. The jewel of East London, the Olympic Park, continues its evolution to cement its place as the blueprint for Olympic legacy.

In addition to new stadia, London is racking up an impressive CV as a host of major events; something that shows no sign of slowing in the coming years. To build on London 2012, UK Sport embarked on an ambitious programme to host 70 major events between 2013 and 2019. Many of these world and european events are based in the capital, including track cycling, aquatics, hockey and the 2017 World Athletics Championships.

In addition, this year’s Rugby World Cup, with three of 13 venues in London, will be followed by the Cricket World Cup in 2019. Wembley is also booked in for the semi-finals and final of Euro 2020, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see UEFA return in the near future for London’s third Champions League final.

Along with falling leaves, autumn brings the razzmatazz of the NFL. The visit of this major outdoor spectacle has quickly become a hugely popular part of the sporting calendar, with Wembley and it’s environs transformed into a little piece of America for a what is becoming a growing number of weekends.

The talk of an NFL franchise in London is unlikely to subside whilst Wembley continues to sell out every game. I’m not entirely against the idea of Spurs sharing a new home with the London Cockerels/Royals, or whatever the promoters deem an appropriate name. Sure, the pitch may cut up a little for a few weeks in the autumn, but once the conference championships are over in mid-January, the pitch would be exclusively used for real football. The money generated would help with the build and local infrastructure, maybe even allowing two different sliding pitches, and help promote the area and the football club. However, Daniel Levy’s recent comments suggest this will not happen in N17. I suspect the lure of all this cash will be too much for the FA to ignore when the time comes.

The great travelling circus of money that is F1, keeps coming back to London with suggestions of street circuits passing historic landmarks and even the idea of driving through the Olympic Stadium, where 60,000 petrol heads will have a chance to see their heroes zooming through in just a few seconds each lap. I guess this could become as iconic as Monaco’s tunnel section. It is the iconography as much as the financial power of this city that means the draw of London remains undeniably strong.

The rest of the world wants to catch up and take their pieces of the sporting pie. London may not keep it’s crown for long, but few other places will be able to make so much of their architectural or sporting heritage.

Paris, who were close to hosting the 2012 Olympics, keep coming back for this ultimate prize. This would bring more new venues to this strikingly beautiful city but this is a one football club town, with no cricket and a single multi-use national venue for rugby, football and athletics. Things will change with the magnificent new national rugby stadium, but there is probably no real need for a new Olympic stadium as this is what the Stade de France was designed for.

Elsewhere, Singapore is making great strides in creating a large sports hub, Melbourne would appear to be sizing itself up for another shot at the Olympics and all across the United States, impossibly huge new stadia are popping up; again with no single hub city taking the lead, which was never really likely in a nation of 50 semi-autonomous states.

The big players in this game are now those who have more money than they know what to do with, along with a strong desire to promote themselves to the wider world.

Initially, the cities of the United Arab Emirates started with cricket by creating ambitiously large stadia that have only been utilised because of security problems in India and Pakistan. Now Dubai is the headquarters of cricket’s governing body, the ICC. Abu Dhabi has invested heavily in European football clubs and is a sparkling stop on the F1 calendar. However, their near neighbours in Qatar have taken the baton and are running away with it. Having already hosted the Asian Games in Doha in 2006, their will and financial clout have seen them bankroll several European football teams and, somewhat controversially, win the rights for the 2022 World Cup. The idea of air-conditioned stadia may be fanciful and less than ecological, but I have to admire their insistence that anything is possible and their desire to push the boundaries of stadium design. They’ve also secured the World Athletics Championships, which is just another precursor to an Olympic bid. They may not have the domestic sporting structure to sustain these new stadia, but Doha could become the ‘go to’ sports hub outside of their roasting summer.

After Qatar, albeit with less reliable weather, the Azerbaijan capital of Baku and the main cities of Kazakstan are pushing hard to take their place at the top table of international sporting centres.

I’m sure I will find my way to these other hubs in time, but first I have a city on my doorstep to continue to explore. In addition to the venues identified in these posts, I must take a look at some of the leeser known gems identified in Simon Inglis’s Played in London, which I’ll be using as my guide book.

As well as all that sport, London is home to the myriad of theatres of the west end and a has a number of widely recognised event spaces, including music venues playing to several hundred people and huge festival spaces, from the established in Finsbury Park to the new at the Olympic Park’s South Lawn and the most widely used, Hyde Park.

Try as they might, I’m not sure anywhere will ever compete with all that London has to offer!