22/12/1999
Wembley Stadium Design
The World Stadium Team are saddened to hear the news that athletics should not be staged at Wembley Stadium and that it will not now become the centrepiece for a future Olympic bid.
We believe that this decision cannot be based on any technical reason regarding the design of the multi-purpose stadium. We completely refute the suggestion that 'the proposed stadium is not the ideal for athletics'.
Our design has evolved over the past 18 months. We have been in constant consultation with athletics bodies throughout the design process, including regular meetings with the 2003/2005 World Championships Bid committee. The design, which exceeded its brief in terms of spectator capacity, gained the full backing of the athletics bodies including David Moorcroft, Chairman of UK Athletics. Juan Antonio Samaranch, head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has stated on record that the capacity for the stadium is more than adequate for Olympic events. The design has also won the strong support of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE). The commission 'are confident that it will meet the aspiration for a world class stadium'.
HOK+LOBB Sports Architecture and FOSTER and PARTNERS, architects of Wembley Stadium, have designed and built many of the top stadia world-wide as well as Olympic master plans. Our experience in this field is undisputed.
Having been given the opportunity to examine the independent report commissioned by the Government, criticising the stadium, we have been able to satisfactorily refute all issues raised by it.
The robustness of the design has been proved, even when the rules are changed. We have shown that with an athletics deck in place and with modification to lower seating tiers, it is possible to accommodate up to 80,000 spectators, maintaining superb sight-lines that are at least equal to or far better than those at the Stade de France for athletics, rugby or football.
The pre-fabricated athletics deck is easy and quick to implement and low in cost. It fully meets the criteria as set out in the Government's Guidelines and has been approved in principle by the IAAF.
Although outside our remit, we have been able to demonstrate the feasibility of introducing a warm-up track alongside Wembley Stadium on four possible locations, a requirement if the Olympics were to be held at Wembley and consistent with the policy of redeveloping 'brownfield sites'.
We can thus only conclude that today's decision by the Government is not to do with design but with investment implications in the event of an Olympics being held at Wembley. Our studies of the suggested Twickenham option show that Rugby would be seriously compromised and that at Manchester the low capacity would negate its chances as a world athletics venue, not to mention scuppering Manchester City's plans to move there from Maine Road.
It is disappointing that the arguments over the last few weeks have dominated what would in normal circumstances be a great celebration for a world class stadium for football, rugby and athletics.
Notes
World Stadium Team are:
HOK + LOBB Sports Architecture
Tel 020 8874 7666
Fax 020 8874 7470
Foster and Partners
Tel 020 7738 0455
Fax 020 7738 1107
Projects:
Wembley Stadium
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