Zaha Hadid Architects win competition to design 'greenest stadium in the world'
– Jim Heverin, ZHA director
Following a seven-month international competition, English football club Forest Green Rovers has selected Zaha Hadid Architects to design its new football stadium.
The studio will build the ground completely out of wood, with the aim of making it “the greenest football stadium in the world.”
The stadium will be the centrepiece of the £100m (US$124.5m, €112.3m) Eco Park development in Gloucestershire – a 100 acre sports and green technology business park owned by clean energy group Ecotricity. It will sit alongside grass and all-weather training pitches, publicly accessible multi-disciplinary facilities and a sports science hub.
“Zaha Hadid have built some fantastic sport stadia around the world, including one at the Olympic Park in London and one of the five stadiums for the next World Cup in Qatar,” said Dale Vince, Ecotricity founder and Forest Green Rovers chair. “Now they’ve designed one for Forest Green.”
Vince said the use of wood to build the “iconic and original new stadium” stadium “is the first time that will have been done anywhere in the world.” He added that the material was chosen for being both a naturally occurring material and having very low carbon content. “If you bear in mind that around three quarters of the lifetime carbon impact of any stadium comes from its building materials, you can see why this is so important – and it’s why our new stadium will have the lowest carbon content of any stadium in the world,” he said.
Forest Green announced the competition in March this year, and received over 50 entries from around the world, including Sweden, Germany, France, Britain and the United States. In May, the club shortlisted nine entries, before selecting two finalists – ZHA and Glenn Howells Architects – in August, who were given another two months to take their concepts further.
Jim Heverin, director at Zaha Hadid Architects, said the stadium will prove that “sustainable architecture can be dynamic and beautiful.”
“The club’s heritage, ambition and vision reflect our own, combining the latest material research and construction techniques with new design approaches to build a more ecologically sustainable and inclusive architecture,” he said.
“With the team’s community and supporters at its core, fans will be as close as five meters from the pitch and every seat has been calculated to provide unrestricted sight lines to the entire field of play. The stadium’s continuous spectator bowl surrounding the pitch will maximise match day atmosphere.”
“Forest Green Rovers have established a holistic vision for the site to retain its pastoral qualities whilst adding new facilities for the town. While the stadium will be the centrepiece, the project creates a new public realm with both recreational and occupational uses, enabling the entire site to contribute to the town - not only on match days, but every day of the year.
“The design retains and enhances the existing meadow landscape of the site whilst adding the stadium and other functions for the town. Embodying low carbon construction methods and operational processes, it will be the first all timber football stadium with almost every element made of sustainably sourced timber including its structure, roof cantilevers and louvered cladding.
"As a building material, timber is highly durable, recyclable and beautiful. The proximity of the stadium’s structural elements to each other has also been determined to enable the seating terraces and floor slab to be made from timber. In most other stadiums, these elements are concrete or steel.
“The stadium’s roof is covered with a transparent membrane, which contributes to turf growth, minimises stark shadows for players and fans and reduces the volumetric impact of the stadium from distant views in the surrounding landscape.
“With the team’s community and supporters at its core, fans will be as close as five meters from the pitch and the position of every seat has been calculated to provide excellent, unrestricted views of the entire field of play. The stadium’s continuous spectator bowl surrounding the pitch will maximise matchday atmosphere.
“The stadium’s design incorporates the club’s future growth. Initially for 5,000 spectators, increasing to 10,000 with the club’s success, expansion from phase 1 to phase 2 can be achieved without the costs of major construction works.
“Forest Green Rovers’ new stadium and Eco Park aims to be carbon neutral or carbon negative, including measures such as the provision of on-site renewable energy generation."
Dale Vince lifts the lid on 'first of its kind' Forest Green Rovers eco-stadium project
Glenn Howells and Zaha Hadid Architects reach final in stadium design competition for Forest Green Rovers
Nine architects shortlisted in race to design eco-stadium for Forest Green Rovers FC
English football club Forest Green Rovers launches stadium design competition for £100m Eco Park
Forest Green Rovers reveal £100m Eco Park plans
FEATURE: News Feature – Forest Green Rovers and the ‘world’s first’ eco-stadium
Wellness care hospital opens in Vilnius with innovative spa and hospitality concept
Universal and Puy du Fou projects point to rise of Oxford–Cambridge corridor
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’ planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism investment.
For years, the corridor has been associated primarily with science, technology, housing and university-led economic growth. However, the clustering of large-scale visitor attraction projects along the
All-inclusive eco-wellness development Auko to open near Vietnam’s Son Doong caves
Shedd Aquarium upgrades its visitor experience with new Immersion Theater
Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional revenue opportunities.
The attraction has transformed the aquarium’s Phelps Auditorium into a multi-sensory venue combining panoramic projection, environmental effects and interactive technology.
A new pre-show area allows visitors to engage with augmented reality marine animals before entering the
MCR is planning a luxury hotel for London's BT Tower
Joy as a radical act: Yinka Ilori launches solo exhibition celebrating the rebellious power of spreading happiness
Work gets underway on Madrid's €800 million leisure complex
Work is underway in Madrid on one of Europe’s most significant multi-functional complexes, combining sport, entertainment, culture and education.
The €800 million initiative to regenerate the former Olympic Aquatic Centre in the north-east of the city, next to the Riyadh Air Metropolitano stadium, is being led by Barsento – a joint venture between Live Nation Entertainment, Oak View Group and Atlético de Madrid. The project will
Therme Manchester reveals 90:90 strategy – 90 per cent of the UK population within a 90-minute drive of a Therme
Four Seasons’ Naples Beach Club opens 2,800sq m Sanctuary spa inspired by indigenous Calusa people
Orient Express Corinthian to host Ocean Rebirth wellness retreat in collaboration with Guerlain
Famed London nightclub, Tramp, launches Tramp Health
First look: Miraval opens on the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia
Hainan Science Museum by Ma Yansong, opens in China
A new science museum has opened to the public in Haikou after attracting more than 350,000 visitors during a four-month soft opening period.
Designed by Ma Yansong and his practice MAD Architects, the Hainan Science Museum is located on the edge of Wuyuan River National Wetland Park and has already recorded peak attendance of more than 5,800 visitors in a single day.
Commissioned by
Zannier Île De Bendor launches with design by Hardel Le Bihan Architectes
Sæl Spa readies for launch in London: “a modern British sanctuary”
Immersive art bathhouse Submersive announces debut location in Austin
Construction begins on regenerative wellness destination The Shenandoah Nature Resort
Royal Caribbean reveals record-breaking cruise ship
V&A East opens in London
David Geffen galleries open at LACMA
New venue The Lands by Capella includes a longevity centre to complement sister hotel Capella Sydney
World of Frozen launches at Disneyland Paris
Pical Resort by Valamar reveals first Croatian spa under the ESPA brand
Mandarin Oriental creates end-to-end Egyptian journey with two new hotels and first-ever luxury river cruise
Designers Mendil + Meyer launch new division called Lām Concepts for strategic wellness projects
Wilderness Bisate in Rwanda reveals brand’s second Sanctuary spa
4a Architekten shares details of wellness extension at Salinarium Bad Dürkheim Thermal Spa
BodyHoliday plans 10-15 locations in the next 15 years
Floating wellbeing destination planned for London’s Royal Docks
Aman Group to open second Janu in Dubai with inaugural Janu Club
Designed to restore neglected land and renew the identity of Iraq’s capital city, Baghdad Sustainable Forests promises a new way of living surrounded by nature. Gensler’s Ian Mulcahay tells us why he thinks the project could become a model for the repair and enhancement of urban centres
