When the Spurs go marching in
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
by Populous
About
Designed by Populous, the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium did host its first game on Wednesday 3rd April, when Tottenham Hotspur met Crystal Palace in the Premier League (2–0). The stadium heralds a new era for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and has created a major landmark for both Tottenham and London. With a capacity of 62,062, the new stadium becomes the biggest club stadium in London and, by incorporating a fully retractable pitch, the first in the world to be custom-built to stage football and NFL games.
Architects
Deodar Road
London SW15 2NU
United Kingdom
Client & User
Best for both worlds
The stadium will host its first NFL game in Autumn 2019, showcasing its unique ability to accommodate the technical and operational requirements of the world’s two most popular sports.
Designed to perfectly accommodate both elite football codes, the natural turf pitch is fully retractable, splitting into three pieces before sliding underneath the South Stand to reveal a state-of-theart artificial pitch beneath. This unique design provides full flexibility for the venue to host a range of sports, concerts and events without compromising the integrity of the grass playing surface.
Match day atmosphere
The stadium has been designed to generate one of the best match day atmospheres in the world, with uninterrupted sightlines and spectators closer to the pitch than at any comparable ground in the UK. The stands are angled at 35 degrees — the steepest angle that UK guidelines recommend — to create a tighter, atmospheric stadium bowl which focusses towards the southern ‘home end’, where 17,500 spectators will come together to generate a ‘wall of sound’ in the largest single-tier stand in the UK.
The areas at the front of the stand, as well as the away support’s section, have been future-proofed for safe standing, with a first-ofits-kind design that gives equal precedence to safety and comfort. The rows of seating are separated by an ergonomically profiled bar set at 900mm for clear sight lines. Each of the seats, which provide the same levels of comfort and leg room as in all other areas of the stadium, is fitted with a lock to ensure it can be securely fixed in the upright position.
Feedback
A sense of arrival
Now completed, the stadium’s sculpted appearance has become clear; wrapping and folding its way around the stadium before reaching the home end, where a glass façade arches upwards to reveal the huge single-tier home stand, and a curved roof, which melds together with the stadium structure to create a graceful and elegant clean cover over the seating bowl. The façade is dynamic, responsive to the changing light. By day, the façade’s perforated screens partially shroud what’s going on inside, but at night they act like a lantern, highlighting the activity within.
A five-storey high glass atrium at the south end will provide a new meeting place for home supporters before and after the match including an open food court bathed in natural light. This spectacular entrance provides a glimpse of life within the stadium and has been designed to create a sense of arrival from the station.
Inspired by White Hart Lane
General admission home team ticket holders are able to explore the full length of the general concourse with a wide range of food and drinks options and three pub-style bars inspired by the club’s former home, White Hart Lane, and the local area. In addition, the general concourse also features a series of pop up and brand activation spaces, including a club merchandise shop.
Located underneath the 17,500-seat single-tier South Stand, within a stunning five-storey atrium flooded with natural light, is the Market Place. Offering a range of diverse experiences available for fans to try throughout the season, designs for food and drink outlets take inspiration from London’s vibrant street food market scene.
Video
Memorable experiences
Populous’ design responds to Tottenham Hotspur’s brief to create memorable experiences for its supporters and everyone else who visits the multi-use stadium. To achieve this, unrivalled views of live Premier League action have been supplemented with a vast range of food and drink, retail and premium experiences, which will add to the match day experience.
Notable features include:
- 17,500-seat single-tier ‘home end’ stand — the largest of its kind in the country
- A fully retractable turf pitch with a state-of-the-art artificial playing surface beneath for NFL matches and other large-scale events
- The Market Place, a new fan zone in the South Stand atrium, with street-food style market stall, the 65m Goal Line Bar — Europe’s longest bar — and a microbrewery operated by local brewer Beavertown
- A choice of fine dining premium experiences including the H Club, a Michelin star calibre Members’ Club
- The Tunnel Club, a glass-walled private members club allowing fans a “behind-the-scenes view” of the players making their way to and from the pitch, as well as access to seats located behind the First Team technical area
- The Sky Lounge, where guests can enjoy the panoramic views across London from the highest point available in the stadium.
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Johannes Bühlbecker, founder
Johannes Bühlbecker is an architect and has worked, among others, for International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities (IAKS) for 15 years – as editorial director of the renowned trade magazine “sb”, in the organisation and realisation of international architectural competitions with IOC and IPC, in trade fairs and conventions, as head of the “NRW Beratungsstelle Sportstätten“ (“NRW Advice Centre for Sports Facilities”) and as a lecturer at the German Sport University Cologne.
- Dipl.-Ing. (engineering degree) Architect, TU Berlin
- Longtime editorial head with “sb”, an international journal for the architecture of sports
- Training in web design, online marketing, etc.
- International architectural competitions with IOC and IPC
- Trade fair and congress organisation
- Head of the “NRW Beratungsstelle Sportstätten“ (“NRW Advice Centre for Sports Venues”)
- Lecturer at the German Sport University Cologne
- Planning of the Prussian Stadium in Münster (for großmann engineers, Göttingen)
- Replanning a football stadium in Berlin-Köpenick
- Numerous publications, i.a. “From Round Leather to Soap Bubbles – The Development of Football and its Architecture”
- Board member and youth coach at SV BW Weitmar 09
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