09/12/1999
World Stadium Team Respond to Criticism of Wembley Design
We have produced a design for the new world-class Wembley Stadium, which stands comparison to any stadium in the World. The brief from our client required us to design a multipurpose stadium, capable of hosting football and rugby events for 80,000 spectators and international athletics events for a minimum of 65,000 spectators without unacceptable compromises to any of the 3 sports. The brief has been exceeded in terms of capacity, up to 90,000 for football and 68,000 for athletics (80,000 with modifications to lower tier).
Discussions with the International Olympic Committee, Sport England, UK Sport and UK Athletics have revealed that our design for the stadium and the capacity envisaged would be acceptable for athletics if an Olympic bid were made.
The World Stadium Team has considerable experience in the design of Olympic venues. HOK+LOBB Sports Architecture designed the Stadium Australia and the Sydney Olympic event overlay and Foster and Partners were responsible for the Manchester Olympic Masterplan at Eastlands in 1993.
Wembley Stadium is expected to host International athletics events just once in a generation. In the case of retractable seating over a permanent athletics track, as in the Stade de France, the compromise to football and rugby fans' sightlines from the upper tiers was considered unacceptable for Wembley. The best solution was thus to convert the stadium to athletics by the installation of a prefabricated deck. The 6 month installation and testing period would occur during the quiet winter months, making the stadium ready for athletics events in the Spring and Summer. Once installed, the deck could also be used for international standard football and rugby matches. The design allows for the re-use of the deck elements after removal. This solution has been accepted in principle by all sporting bodies consulted including the IAAF.
On Wednesday 1 December the Stakeholders in the Wembley project, including Rod Sheard of World Stadium Team, were called to a meeting with Chris Smith and Kate Hoey at the DCMS. They were asked for a response to issues raised in an independent report by American Stadia Architects Ellerbe Becket, that the stadium was unsuitable as an Athletics venue.
Our findings show that the Ellerbe Becket Report is flawed in that:
It contains factual errors;
It refers to non-existent requirements from regulating bodies;
It is inconsistent.
In particular it refers to the partial roof coverage over the track as being a problem in wet weather. We have received assurance from the IAAF that this is not a problem and we know that it occurs in several athletics stadia world-wide.
The Report criticises the proposed east-west orientation of the track due to the possibility of low sun angles causing problems for athletes. Again the IAAF agree that our design is acceptable as the height of the Stadium structure rules out this problem.
In addition, the Report claims a lack of provision for access to the athletics deck. Our design allows for access to the athletics track level via a system of gentle ramps or through a large gateway at the north east corner. The use and design of these modes of access would be agreed in detail with any future event organiser.
The architectural reputations of both HOK+Lobb and Foster and Partners have been put on the line. This report could affect our credibility around the world and it is possible that legal action may be considered.
The new Wembley will be the best stadium in the world, the spiritual heart of the world's most popular sport, football, the centrepiece for the 2006 World Cup bid, as well as a state of the art venue for the 2005 World Athletics Championships. As designers of the stadium we would be very disappointed if it were not the centrepiece of a future UK Olympic Bid.
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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