Taking the 25k seater Stadium...

[sutts07]

How the Olympic Stadium could look if there is no outright owner/tenant.

After seeing how the stadium could look if no outright owner or tenant wins the rights, it made me think that it might actually be better for us to take the 25k stadium in a raw form and develop it over time with the help of the Legacy Committee and of course some investors...

I know the drawings are not perfect so don't judge the idea based on them...



Phase 1...
Add a permanent upper tier to the East side complete with corporate facilities to mirror the West side of the stadium. This would bring the capacity up to around 40k.






Phase 2...
Remove the stands at the North and South end of the stadium then square the ends of the stadium off at ground level, tight to the tip of the track curve (leaving a 10-12ft high wall along each end for advertising etc). This would lower the capacity by around 10k.




Temporary seating could then be added along the wall of the North and South ends of the Stadium for football games. This could be for fans wanting cheaper tickets and away fans, plus bring the capacity back up by 10k for football games.




The Arizona Cardinals (USA) have temporary seating behind one end which can be put up in 48 hours so it can be done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIukkv1Ko0U



Phase 3
Build a permanent upper tier Stand along the squared off North and South ends of the stadium bringing the football and athletics capacity up by around 20k each.
Some seats may be restricted view in the upper tier for athletics events due to the angle of the stand, but you would still have over 40k seats that are perfect. And for football you would have around 60k seats including the temporary lower seating.

[StiffUpper]

I like the squared off east and partially permanent north side.
I suppose the eastern side could have a demountable lower tier to cover the track too.

All this gives the board options. Distant seats they can flog off on the cheap to get numbers in and build the fan base.
Also closer 'proper' seats that people would pay higher prices for.

Think some of your capacity estimates are conservative too. Another good thing.

[sutts07]

Thanks!

I will wait for them to contact me... I have a very cheap day rate for my consultancy!

[Mr_Andersonn]

The main reason for going to Stratford is surely the money that will be generated from the stadium with 60,000 capacity and corporate facilities.

Downsizing to 25,000 would be a backward step in my opinion. We would effectively be paying for developing new stands with our own money. How do we do this with reduced revenue and how would we then invest in the squad of players?

Surely it would be better to bite the bullet and pay for a complete retractable seating system.

[sutts07]

I would have thought the main reason for moving there would be the site as a whole, not the stadium itself. Especially as a large percentage of people consider the stadium to be unfit for a football clubs needs.

Also I may not have made it clear above but I am not suggesting we move into a 25k stadium...

I am suggesting we take over the stadium in its 25k form and develop it as and when we can/need to. Money raised from selling the Upton Park site would pay for a new East Stand to be put in place at Stratford before we move there. That would see us move into a ground very similar in size to Upton Park but with much better transport links, facilities and growth potential.

That would then make us a very attractive proposition for businessmen and investors.

Of course we could just try to get the funding and permission to convert the stadium to phase 4 as above before we move there!

[StiffUpper]

25k refers to just the lower tier. There's another 55k in the upper tier.

So picture 1 where the west side (with the current very swish hosipitality) retains its upper tier gives a capacity of around 40k

Picture 3 with the straight-sided closer east stand means the capacity at that stage could easily be 55k.

This scheme puts the N side close to the pitch and the E side closish. If the East side had a demountable lower-tier (with a steep (athletics rake and a shallower football rake options), this would mean upper tier, hospitality and lower tiers could be closer to the pitch

[sutts07]

Another impression... this would require less work...

Add a permanent upper tier to the East Stand so it mirrors the already permanent main (West) stand.
Replace each end with a squared off, upper tier only stand.



Temp lower tier stands could be put in place at each end to make it pretty decent for football.

[StiffUpper]

There's adantages to demountable too.
The board are going to want to bid for major games, World Cups, CL finals etc.

Unfortunately the powers that be expect a 'auxilary' area of 8.5 metres on each side of teh pitch and 10m behind.
An athletics track is about 10m wide.

So with demountable you can keep UEFA etc happy by having the 'Athletics Rake' demountable fitted for those games, while using the football rake the rest of the time in order to get as close as we used to at BG.

[The Rebirth]

Sutts although it would never happen that is fantastic good work!

If they ever did take a look in here it should certainly give them food for thought!

[Rocketron]

Sutts although it would never happen that is fantastic good work!

If they ever did take a look in here it should certainly give them food for thought!

Are you serious?
That looks like a total abomination to me.

[sutts07]

Are you serious?
That looks like a total abomination to me.

The unprofessional image I have pulled together may look crappy I agree but the idea behind it is pretty solid.
Two main stands either side similar to the West we currently have, and upper tiers at either end similar to the Bobby Moore upper we currently have.

No permanent lower tiers at each end would allow for some form of demountable seating to be added for football making it a pretty decent stadium all in all.

Fact of the matter is, the club want to move to Stratford, so we have to come up with a 'running track' solution. This is as good a solution as I have seen so far to be honest, certainly not an abomination.

[adie]

who would pay for the rebuilding of a whole stadium ? The OPLC are gonna spend £90 million on the conversion after the games, don't think the budget would cover building 4 new stands, they won't even pay for retractable seating let alone build a football stadium

[-DL-]

Are you serious?
That looks like a total abomination to me.

Good mock-ups, but I have to agree.

Not a slight on your handy work Sutts, I just think all the chopping and changing about looks all a bit, well, ****.

[The Rebirth]

Are you serious?
That looks like a total abomination to me.

I'm talking about the idea and how it could be adapted.

The Boleyn is an abomination and why oh why they designed the West Stand that way I will never know. (probably something to do with the buildings behind the two other stands I guess)

But still the Boleyn is a total mismatch I reckon if we stayed we would have to redevelop the corners on the upper tiers linking them with the BMU and STBU.

Also that tunnel underneath the corner between the BML and WS is wasted space they should've built seats there.

[sutts07]

who would pay for the rebuilding of a whole stadium ? The OPLC are gonna spend £90 million on the conversion after the games, don't think the budget would cover building 4 new stands, they won't even pay for retractable seating let alone build a football stadium

A lot of this could be done as part of the original conversion. The West side of the stadium is pretty much staying as it is. The East side would just need a permanent upper tier and some corporate facilities to mirror the West.

The two ends could be squared off for a minimal cost and the money raised from selling Upton Park to Tesco or a housing developer could cover the permanent upper tier at each end.

[sutts07]

Looking at the same idea with the help of stadium floor plans is less of an "abomination" and is definitely food for thought IMO!

Stadium in Olympic use...


Stadium with non permanent fixtures removed... (this will have to happen anyway)


Stadium with permanent upper tier added to East side to mirror the West side... (this could happen before we move in)


The stadium would have a capacity of around 40k and could be used for football with the main stands holding around 15k each...


Stadium with the North end squared off...


Temp seating could be placed along the North end wall to keep the capacity at 40k for football...


Stadium with a permanent upper tier added above the North end wall...


With the temp seating placed along the North end wall below the permanent upper tier the capacity could be around 50k for football...


Stadium with the South end squared off...


Temp seating could be placed along the South end wall to keep the capacity at around 50k for football...


Stadium with a permanent upper tier added above the South end wall would hold around 50k for an athletics meeting...


With the temp seating placed along the North and South end walls below the permanent upper tiers the capacity could be around 60k for football...

[StiffUpper]

Thanks for the extra pictures.

Do the dark and light green areas represent the pitch and a surrounding grass area respectively?

Absolutely incredible that it wasn't built with at least one of the east or west stands squared-off.

[Mr_Andersonn]

Good stuff, but it does not change the rake of the lower tiers beside the pitch or the viewing distances.

[sutts07]

Good stuff, but it does not change the rake of the lower tiers beside the pitch or the viewing distances.

I am not too sure these are going to be much worse than our current West Stand. In fact as you move away from the half way line and towards the corners you will actually be closer to the pitch than you are in our current East or West stands.

Thanks for the extra pictures.

Do the dark and light green areas represent the pitch and a surrounding grass area respectively?

Absolutely incredible that it wasn't built with at least one of the east or west stands squared-off.

Correct and correct... I wish the use of the stadium post games had been considered. It could have been so simple!

[taffhammer]

Good stuff, but it does not change the rake of the lower tiers beside the pitch or the viewing distances.

You may get a clearer view but it doesn't make any difference what the rake of a stand is like when it comes to viewing distance, if your in row 20 you'd still be the same distance from the pitch if the stand was flat or straight up in the air because you'd just be higher up. So as long as they built it so you get a clear view of athletics it should be ok for any sport.