Inside the past, present and future of stadium design with Populous
One of the cherished memories for any sports fan is that intake of breath from sheer disbelief when you first climb the concrete steps from the bowels of a stadium to glimpse the scale of the arena which a team you’re about to both fall in love with and despise for a lifetime calls home.
Whether it’s the design of the stands or the closeness to the action, stadiums draw us in; they become cathedrals of our towns, central hubs of our communities. They matter. But where we watch sport is evolving and changing as much as the rules on and off the pitch.
Technology and the drive to be different are thrusting exciting megaprojects into our cities, and they’re only going to change further.
Nostalgia
“The wonderful thing about stadiums particularly is even when we look back at what we think of these amazing old stadiums, like White Hart Lane, slightly nostalgically – at the time they were incredibly cutting edge, architecturally,” Christopher Lee of global stadium design leaders Populous tells Morning Wire
“Think about the Art Deco halls of the East Stand of Highbury, it was amazing. These stadiums were cutting-edge buildings and architectures driven by individuals or clubs who always see themselves as forward thinking.
“But that evolution in the UK, we are playing catch up to stadium development around the world and particularly in the US.”
Tottenham have reaped the rewards for setting new standards for stadia. Lee says that spend per spectator is up massively in Spurs’ new home because fans are happy to go there earlier and stay later.
“Historically English football has treated its fans pretty badly, you turn up to these concrete, open concourses, drink some really bad but overpriced beer, go through to a plastic seat and then do the same in reverse,” he adds.
“Spurs picked up a lot of the broader trends of what’s happening through lots of different stadiums and, Daniel [Levy, chairman] being Daniel, wanted to put them all into one building that ultimately is about experience and how you can create amazing experiences for everyone.
“It’s not that the fans weren’t spending that £15-16, they were just spending it in the local pub because either you couldn’t get a drink at White Hart Lane or it was too small and terrible. So I think that the idea of curating experiences is the key change.”
Popular Populous
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, opened in 2019, is widely recognised as one of the best arenas in the world for football. It is a culmination of necessity – given the surrounding area is lacking in offering – and the need to suit other sports too, such as American Football.
It is one of six stadiums that will be used at a Euro 2028 tournament that will have Populous at its heart. The architects can also claim credit for projects such as Wimbledon’s Centre Court, Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium and the Melbourne Cricket Ground. But London hosts the company’s best work, according to friends across the pond anyway.
“I’ve taken a whole bunch of big American clients around Tottenham Hotspur Stadium,” Lee, Populous’ EMEA director adds. “And they were saying this is hands down the best stadium in the world, insofar as it has put together all of these different ideas in that.
“It’s American in its sense of freedom. You can walk around the whole concourse and meet your friends on the other side, or you can go and have a chicken burger, or you can go and have an amazing beer in the craft brewery brewed on site.
Community stadium
“In the UK, in Europe – whether it’s Aston Villa, or whether it’s Emirates – there’s something super special about having a local football team. Whether you follow football or not, they’re very much part of our communities and this idea of having them integrated is really important, whether that’s an older building – like moving Emirates or moving White Hart Lane – or building communities around them, I think they’re great.
“Stadiums are great neighbours, they’re huge anchors and create great footfall. And then that allows you to build all of the other bits on top of the bars and the restaurants and the shops and the bits that build communities, which is why I do think you’ll see more of the stadium anchor developments, which we’re seeing more around the world.”
Hot, hot, hot
But sport, and football especially, is changing – fast. In 2022 we saw the first Middle Eastern Fifa World Cup in Qatar while Saudi Arabia is set to play host in 2034..
Populous is working on the Prince Mohammad bin Salman Stadium in Qiddiya, a specialist sports city in the Kingdom. The stadium, due to be opened later this decade, will have just three sides (yes, three) and presents its own challenges when it comes to construction. When complete it could be the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the next best thing we’ve ever seen.
Stadiums don’t have a pulse, they don’t breathe. But when they’re easy on the eye and full of cheering and jeering fans desperate to see their side do well, they reach a new level of motion.
Sometimes crumbling steel beams and flaking paint provokes nostalgia, but that’s not enough for the next generation of fans when they ascend their own steps to their own version of the view that drew us all in years ago. They want more, and the industry is delivering.