Arup reveals designs for 2022 Commonwealth Games stadium
Arup has revealed its designs for the redevelopment of the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, UK, which will be the focal point of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
If accepted, the £70m ($90m, €81m) plan will see the stadium become a high-quality venue for diverse sporting, leisure, community and cultural events.
Among proposals are plans to build a new western stand, replacing the Main, Knowles and Nelson stands and to add new tiered seating to north and south.
This will increase the permanent capacity from 12,700 to 18,000, with temporary seating installed during the 2022 Games to further increase this to 30,000.
A new 400m, six-lane warm-up track and a practice throwing field will be constructed, while the existing 400m, nine-lane, competition-standard track will be relaid.
The public realm will be enlived, with additional landscaping and signage and a new access road and car parking added.
The stadium, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the athletics events, is at the heart of a wider drive to regenerate the Perry Barr area of Birmingham.
After the Games, it will anchor an ambitious £500m ($642m, €581m) investment project involving the construction of new housing, transport links and upgrades to infrastructure and public spaces.
Birmingham was announced as the host city for the 2022 Games in 2017, with designs for the Games Village by Glancy Nicholls Architects and Glenn Howells Architects released in 2018 and construction work commencing earlier this year.
A final decision on the stadium proposals by the city council’s planning committee is expected in early 2020. Construction of the new stand will provisionally commence that spring, with completion expected in late 2021 ahead of test events. Permission to demolish the three west stands was given in August and early works have begun.
Planning application Birmingham £70m Commonwealth Games stadium