Hill Dickinson Stadium – design description

Planned almost on the bank of Mersey, the new Everton stadium would sit within the Bramley-Moore Dock, once it's reclaimed from Mersey's waters. The building's orientation will be north-south, which is optimal for stadia overall and in this particular case will ensure enough space on both sides to organise crowd circulation.

The new stadium was supposed to be neighboured by a multi-level parking in the west. The parking was to be low enough in height not to hide the stadium in Liverpool's landscape or – on the other side – to hide the Mersey riverfront from people within the stadium's hospitality areas. Eventually, however, the idea was dropped in favour of a much simpler solution - a ground level parking only.

Because the entire riverfront is a UNESCO-listed global heritage site, the Meis Architects team decided to divide the stadium into two horizontal forms. The lower is directly connected to the dockland architecture, its brickwork being inspired directly by the nearby Stanley Dock. Also, the latticework brick facade would be a loose tribute to Archibald Leitch (whose works include Goodison), sometimes called the father of English stadia. In a later iteration the latticework pattern was simplified and strengthened by Pattern Design.

The upper form is far more modern and also significantly lighter, if only visually. Here steel, concrete and glass mix to create a cloud-like form atop the stadium. Translucent and illuminated at night the hovering upper form is also contrasting the shape of the stadium's lower half. Below, it's robust, rectangular, traditional. Above – you get a simple yet rhythmic bold oval, cut on both ends to meet spatial constraints.

There's just enough room around the stadium to properly organise matchday crowd flow. Because vast majority of fans will approach the stadium from the east, this is where the main plaza will be created, providing a meeting point before and after games. There are three main access routes planned for people using public transport or simply walking to the stadium.

Perhaps the most interesting part is the seating layout. Stands were divided into two and three tiers, except for the solid single-tiered south end. The main grandstand, in the west, would have three levels, owing the division largely to its corporate hospitality contingent. East and north stands should have two main tiers. All stands might be as close as 5 meters away from the field, making it a very compact auditorium for its capacity.

The south end is expected to deliver most of the atmosphere, having a very steep incline and holding 13,000 people, just more than Anfield's Spion Kop. Also, should legislation allow such move, the stadium's south and north stands are able to easily be converted to safe standing areas at least partly. Such move might result in total capacity growing from all-seated 52,000 to 62,000 with some standing.