New design: West Ham's Olympic Stadium
source: StadiumDB.com; author: StadiumDB.com team
We've shown you this design before, but now it joins StadiumDB.com officially. Here's how the 54,000-capacity stadium will welcome the Premier League in 2015/16, of course should West Ham United retain their spot.
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Although West Ham had been preparing for some time to take over as anchor tenants of the 2012 Olympics Stadium, decision was made only in March 2013, to the displeasure of competing entities, including other football sides.
This is also when the club presented detailed plans of how the ground opened a year before should be redeveloped, which we officially add to StadiumDB.com today.
Contrary to initial Olympics legacy plans, the upper stands were decided to be retained, while initially permanent lower sections were to be replaced by retractable stands that would bring fans close to the action both for football and athletics. With the stadium also receiving new permanent corporate zones, capacity is to fall from 80,000 to 54,000 seats.
A new tensile roof was also designed over the stands, covering all fans. With the span of 84 meters it's thought to be the world's largest delivered in that technology. All 14 floodlight mass atop the roof were to be dismantled with new structures of similar shape designed on the internal side of the cover.
Demolition of the lower stands began in August 2013, while roof deconstruction followed in November. All of the stadium is to be done in 2015, in time for the Rugby World Cup. Of the planned budget set at £150 million West Ham United are to cover some 10%, with the remainder being financed by Newham Council (£ 40m) and central funds.
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