10 months ago
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Wembley Stadium’s arch has become a landmark in London ever since the revamped site opened in 2007.
A stadium has stood on the site since 1923 and is an iconic venue that has hosted showpiece sporting events from football finals to world title boxing fights, to NFL games and wrestling events.
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The final England match was played there in 2000, with the demolition officially beginning in 2002, and the national stadium being out of action for five years before it was completed.
However, the arch was not the original concept for the stadium design with the plans evolving over many years.
Foster + Partners had been involved in the project since the mid-1990s with Brent Council to revamp Wembley Stadium.
The original Wembley that had been there since the 1920s was in drastic need of change and the long process started.
Initially, plans had been drawn up to keep the iconic twin towers that everyone was familiar with.
The towers were going to be moved forward to be part of the site entrance, but this later proved not possible.
One of the key features of the old stadium was the amount of sunlight the pitch got - think of those FA Cup finals and Play-Off Finals that were played in the blistering sunshine.
The architects wanted to keep this unique feature and set about coming up with a design that would maximise sunlight onto the field.
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Angus Campbell, senior partner at Foster + Partners, told talkSPORT: “Foster + Partners first got involved in the project in the mid-1990s, working with Brent Council. We did some studies about what the stadium could be and did a design that kept the twin towers, but we had to move them.
“If you look at the footprint of the old stadium it was very tight against the railway tracks. So by the time you put the new seating bowl geometry, the footprint is significantly bigger so you couldn't keep the twin towers in the same place.
“We came up with a design that would push the twin towers forward. In effect, we would pick them up and move them and they would become like the new gateway.
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“Over the course of the next three or four years, we realised how the project was going to be procured and we teamed up with Populous to form the World Stadium Team for the project.
“The brief from the Football Association was to design a new state-of-the-art 90,000 seat stadium. But we didn’t want to lose the spirit of the original stadium which had a number of unique features such as the atmosphere, the quality of the grass, and that football matches was played with minimal shadow cast on the pitch.
“This was because unlike most stadiums in the northern hemisphere which are orientated north/south, The Wembley pitch had an east/west orientation. Plus, the football pitch was surrounded by a running track and the roof was only covering the spectators which pushed the seats away from the pitch. But it did have the advantage of creating a bigger roof opening that allowed more sunlight onto the pitch.
“Given that Pele was quoted saying Wembley was the ‘best pitch in the world’ he had ever played on, we wanted to make it even better. So we decided that we would retain the east/west orientation and the same size of roof opening which led us to realise that we would need to re-track the south side of the roof.
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“So, even though the seating bowl and its roof enclosure would be reconfigured in line with the latest standards, we wanted to design a lightweight roof with a size roof opening that would still allow sunlight down onto the pitch.
“This meant that the primary roof support structure had to be on north side of the pitch, above the principal hospitality spaces. Ideally these spaces needed to be column free so that they could host a wide range of the events.”
Before the arch concept was designed, the plan was to have four masts that would support the roof structure.
This was even unveiled to the press and public in 1999, with then England boss Kevin Keegan reportedly comparing it to a ‘circus tent’.
Lord Norman Foster gave this presentation, but within days had decided to change the plans.
Not only were there concerns over the look of the design, but the masts went directly through the hospitality section of the stadium and would have comprised the overall space.
Sketchers from Foster showed the evolution of the project and provided a new, unique look that also solved the problem of the masts going directly through an area of the stadium.
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Campbell continued: “The first incarnation of the roof design was suspended from two very tall masts, which then refined into a version with four smaller masts that passed through the hospitality spaces. This was the design Norman Foster launched in July 1999, while Kevin Keegan was still the England manager.
“Norman did that presentation and came back to us and said that something is not right, that the masts are compromising the internal spaces.
“The Millennium Dome was also in the public eye at that time too, so Norman was pretty clear that it wasn’t the right solution.
“What followed was a mad 24-hour process over the weekend where Norman was sketching ideas and sending them to the team, which we would refine and send back. It was during this interaction that the idea of the arch was born, which would be able to span over the top of the hospitality spaces without the need for any intermediate columns.
“The other advantage of the arch was its height, As Wembley is quite a few miles outside of Central London and we wanted a structure that could be seen from a distance and symbolise a sense of connection with the city. The arch gave it that gravitas and that structural efficiency we were looking for."
The arch itself supports all the weight of the north roof and 60 per cent of the retractable roof on the south side.
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Construction officially started in 2003 and during the excavation of the field, in order to lower it, the concrete foundation to the Watkins Tower were discovered. This was a failed attempt to construct a rival to the Eiffel Tower.
The project was a collaboration between Foster + Partners and Populous, who have been behind other stadiums like the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Another key feature of those early designs was the requirement to have a running track around the outside so it could host track and field events.
Wembley was initially earmarked as a possible venue for the London 2012 Olympics, before the new site in Stratford, now the home of West Ham, was built.
Richard Breslin, senior principal at Populous, told talkSPORT: “The designs were still moving a fair bit when I joined. I was in Sydney working on the Olympic Games and then came over to London in August 1999 where by that point that masts had been presented in a press conference. The arch proposals were put forward soon after that.
“One of the challenges with Wembley was that the site itself was incredibly tight.
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“The requirement was for Wembley to host track and field as well and that was through putting a platform above the current field of play.
“What that means is that the geometry of the seating bowl is based on a track and field bowl. That pushes the envelope of the building out. The track and field bowl is broader, the way the sight lines work and geometry of the bowl work means that it is bigger.
“You look at the site boundary, which is very tight, and the government wanted it to host track and field if it needed to. That created further constraints on the site.
“Those parts when I first joined were still moving around quite a bit. It was still at the concept stage where we were evaluating what the client’s needs were and aspirations were.”
The arch was lifted into place in 2004 and at 133 metres high, it is the world’s largest single-span roof support.
Work was officially completed in 2007 and the first FA Cup final saw Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0.
Breslin continued: “Wembley is one of the greatest sporting icons in the world. It conjures up so much emotion and has instant recognition.
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“It was important for our whole team to respect that historical aspect and also to look at the future, not just for English football fans but also other sports and cultural aspects.
“We really tried to make sure that we came up with something that would make the fan experience unique.
“I went to the opening game with my father and I don’t think I watched a single minute as I was watching the crowd the whole time."
Wembley has gone on to host blockbuster events from Champions League finals, to Tyson Fury fights, to NFL games, and concerts.
