Retractable seating at the OS

An archive of news, events and discussion leading up to and post West Ham United's historic move from Upton Park to Stratford in 2016.

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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by prophet:marginal »

Francoisvander or else wrote:Have a butchers at some pictures below the final one is a CGI image of the venue empty. Please God if we do move I hope we end up with something better than this :cry:

http://img.skysports.com/11/10/660x350/ ... 662121.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


http://answers.bettor.com/images/Articl ... 115366.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Wow - those are bad.
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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by The Rebirth »

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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by The Rebirth »

paulhs1 wrote:It’s beginning to look unlikely that retractable seating will be in place for us at Stratford. I’m no architect but it appears that many specialists are stating that to put in retractable seating you will probably need to rebuild parts of the lower tier at a cost way in excess of what the OPLC are ever going to contemplate for the reconfiguration. And so, at best we are looking at temporary seating which will possibly be very similar to those in the Sevilla links above. We may have them only behind the goals or around all sides but either way temporary seating is probably what we are looking at.
I think the only way to do it would be by having it all around the pitch as otherwise the stadium will look lob sided although this would make the whole of the current lower tier unusable and further away from the upper tier making parts of the stadium feel disjointed from the rest of the arena. In addition to this it has already been confirmed that the top tier behind the goals will be screened off and not used.
You can way up all the possible scenarios but I think when you take everything into account the reality will be that with temporary seating we will end up with a stadium that will probably look lob sided, have areas behind the goals screened off, have a lower tier disjointed from the upper tier with parts of the ground far away from the pitch and will probably not be fit for football.
So if we are the preferred tenant then I think the only option is to have no temporary seating at all and just keep it as an athletics stadium, at least then it will feel like a stadium rather than a temporary structure or a giant sized Lego kit!
But on a positive note there could still be an opportunity of a share of profits and naming rights which is possibly the only saving grace left for the owners before they finally decide to call it a day on the whole thing.
Not being funny but you are in no way qualified to make that call.

Also you're anti OS and your futile attempts to scaremonger will be brushed to the side by those who will wait for the club and it's qualified architechs to let us know their plans.

Also Newham Council will own the ground and any configurations will go through them. The OPLC will have no say (providing Newham stick to the legacy plans which they will)
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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by brownout »

Unless the pitch is lower any bank of seats over the track will obscure at least part of the lower tier so the only way this can be done is to rebuild or build over the one part of the original stadiom that was designed to be permanent.
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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by mywhufc »

The Rebirth wrote:
Also Newham Council will own the ground and any configurations will go through them. The OPLC will have no say (providing Newham stick to the legacy plans which they will)
where do you get that the stadium will be owned by Newham council then?

How's your poll coming along, gave the results to Mr Gold yet.
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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by eastsider »

O.S latest in Torygraph yesterday......

The Olympic Stadium could have retractable seating installed over the running track after the London 2012 Games to make it more attractive to football fans, it can be disclosed.

West Ham, who are favourites to be chosen as the tenants, are looking at having the retractable seating as part of their new bid for the stadium.

The new tender process for the stadium is due to be announced next week and West Ham are the favourites to be chosen as the tenants.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) are expected to stipulate that any bids must guarantee that the running track remains in place to allow athletics events to take place - including the 2017 world athletics championships which is being hosted at the stadium.

That has led to some opposition from football fans who fear they will be too far away from the pitch. West Ham have asked designers to come up with a plan for seats that cover the track so that fans are closer to the action.

The seats could then be removed from the track when athletics events are to be staged. The cost of retractable seating could be as little as £10million.

West Ham did consider retractable seating after they beat Tottenham back in February to be named as the preferred bidders to take over the stadium and sources say the idea is figuring strongly in their plans for a new bid - especially now conversion costs would be covered from the public purse.

Their original deal to take over the stadium collapsed in October when the Government scrapped the agreement following a legal challenge by Tottenham and Leyton Orient which threatened London's bid for the 2017 world athletics championships.

Under that deal, West Ham and Newham Council would have taken on a 250-year lease and contributed to the conversion costs. The new tender process is expected to stipulate that stadium will be kept in public ownership and rented out.

:thup:
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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by Romford »

brownout wrote:Unless the pitch is lower any bank of seats over the track will obscure at least part of the lower tier so the only way this can be done is to rebuild or build over the one part of the original stadiom that was designed to be permanent.
Not at all mate....if you continue the upper tier right down to the pitch at the same angle you take over much of the running track on 3 sides and totally on the Main side.
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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by mywhufc »

Romford wrote: Not at all mate....if you continue the upper tier right down to the pitch at the same angle you take over much of the running track on 3 sides and totally on the Main side.
sounds good but what about the corporate boxes, where would they be,
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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by Mr_Andersonn »

Romford wrote: Not at all mate....if you continue the upper tier right down to the pitch at the same angle you take over much of the running track on 3 sides and totally on the Main side.
Although this seems technically possible, I can't see them even considering it due to cost.

This is what we need...

Check out the Etihad / Docklands Stadium in Melbourne.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=402290" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by The Rebirth »

mywhufc wrote: where do you get that the stadium will be owned by Newham council then?

How's your poll coming along, gave the results to Mr Gold yet.
The stadium will be taken over by the local council and rented out to a tenant? I thought this is what has been reported, it makes the £40m 'loan' a no go and enables Newham to spend it without question.

My poll has been scrapped mate due to the protest group campaigning (thats not a bad thing and good luck to them)
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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by hammersk »

The original tender saw us signing a 250 year lease with a £40m loan from Newham (joint partners in an SPV).
Retractable seating would have been funded by thi SPV (e.g. West Ham)


This new tender will see Newham investing £40m in a public-public ownership/partnership with the OPLC.
West Ham will in turn be selected as tenants and will negotiate a long-term lease.

The one major difference will be that under the new deal, the retractable seating will be paid for by the taxpayer, because of Tottenham's interventions.

In terms of the lease, I have heard many fans questioning the length and ultimate ownership of the stadium.
We were always going to be tenants (at least to start with).

The length of the lease is irrelevant in terms of ownership.
Operating leases are a thing of the past, meaning that any lessees are taking on financial (HP) arrangements with the asset on the balance sheet.

It is all coming together quite nicely.
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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by Hammer Smith »

hammersk wrote:It is all coming together quite nicely.

Is it? Looks like an utter shambles to me. So what's the plan to cover the thousands of retractable seats then?
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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by Francoisvander or else »

Unless the pitch is lower any bank of seats over the track will obscure at least part of the lower tier so the only way this can be done is to rebuild or build over the one part of the original stadiom that was designed to be permanent.[/quote]

Not at all mate....if you continue the upper tier right down to the pitch at the same angle you take over much of the running track on 3 sides and totally on the Main side.[/quote]

The rake will be far to shallow with a differential height of roughly 4-5 centimetres per row not nearly enough for a first class viewing experience
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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by EvilC »

Francoisvander or else wrote:The rake will be far to shallow with a differential height of roughly 4-5 centimetres per row not nearly enough for a first class viewing experience
But the sight lines are better than Wembley, Karren said so.
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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by brownout »

Brownout wrote:[Unless the pitch is lower any bank of seats over the track will obscure at least part of the lower tier so the only way this can be done is to rebuild or build over the one part of the original stadiom that was designed to be permanent

- Romford - Not at all mate....if you continue the upper tier right down to the pitch at the same angle you take over much of the running track on 3 sides and totally on the Main side.


That's what I said - continuing upper tier down to pitch side will cover the current lower tier seats - the only tier designed to be permanent.
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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by Pop Robson »

Mr_Andersonn wrote:
Although this seems technically possible, I can't see them even considering it due to cost.

This is what we need...

Check out the Etihad / Docklands Stadium in Melbourne.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=402290" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Very good and you've posted them before, but they were designed from the off and we ain't getting that !!
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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by Mr_Andersonn »

No, I don't think we will end up with this but long term it surely has to be the most viable option.

It would mean taking out the whole lower tier.

People keep asking the same question on here though!
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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by paulhs1 »

The Rebirth wrote: Not being funny but you are in no way qualified to make that call.
To be fair I did say that I am no specialist in this field, and I will say again that I am no architect, design engineer or have any construction experience.
The Rebirth wrote: Also you're anti OS and your futile attempts to scaremonger will be brushed to the side by those who will wait for the club and it's qualified architechs to let us know their plans.
I'm not trying to scaremonger anyone, I am simply giving an opinion, just as you are. But I will state again that I think retractable seating is not possible with the type pf budgets being thrown about. As I have already said I am no specialist, but from my understanding, retractable seating will involve parts of or all of the lower tier retracting from it's current position outwards towards the pitch. Now as far as I am aware the lower tier is a permenant structure which is currently built into the foundations. I think I am therefore correct in assuming that to enable the lower tier to retract you would have to dig down into the foundations of the whole of the lower tier. The total build has so far cost 500m so I am finding it very hard to believe that £10m will be enough money to make retractable seating possible.
Again this is my opinion and I am no specialist, I hope the club and it's architects can prove me wrong but I fear that the best case scenario is temporary seating such as the Sevilla pictures in this thread. Can you honestly say that you would be happy with that?
Last edited by paulhs1 on Mon Dec 19, 2011 10:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by paulhs1 »

Mr_Andersonn wrote:No, I don't think we will end up with this but long term it surely has to be the most viable option.

It would mean taking out the whole lower tier.

People keep asking the same question on here though!
Quite a lot of people believe that something such as retractable seating can be possible based on Karren Brady making a reference to it in her sun column. And this coming from someone who said we have a 15,000 strong season ticket holder waiting list, should be called West Ham olympic and used to throw bananas at Clyde Best.
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Re: Retractable seating at the OS

Post by WHURS »

There is nothing structural about the lower tier so can be removed if they want. It is only considered permanent because it was the only part of the stadium that was due to remain.The undercroft is the permanent struncture that is the foundations of the upper tier. Here is a time laspe video that shows there is nothing about the lower teir that could be considered permanent.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10745320" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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