STADIA AND ARENA
fixtures. Three years later, built on time and within its 410m (£346m) budget, the iconic Aviva Stadium sits above a busy rail- way, bounded by the River Dodde, amid a central city suburb – testament to 21st cen- tury sport and design. Historically linked with sport since the
first multi-sport, purpose-built venue was erected in 1872, rugby soon crept into the sporting calendar and the Irish Football Rugby Union (IRFU) secured the site’s lease in the early 1900s. The first stand was built in 1908 and the East Stand was added in 1983, during which time the Irish football team also made the site its home. Today, the new 50,000-seat stadium is
the result of a joint venture by the IRFU and the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) with 191m (£161m) worth of funding
VIVA DUBLIN I
n 2007, Dublin’s Lansdowne Road sta- dium was demolished to make way for a new home ground for Ireland’s international rugby and football
provided by the Irish government and fur- ther investment from title sponsor – Aviva insurance company. Its iconic design and reduced carbon footprint is the result of a joint architectural collaboration between internationally-renowned Populous and Dublin-based Scott Tallon Walker (STW).
Designed to fit Billed as the ‘first site-responsive stadi- um of its kind’, Populous senior principal Ben Vickery says its design had to re- spond to its site conditions by keeping the height of the structure at its lowest close to the nearby two-storey houses. “The curved-shaped roof was designed to allow sufficient daylight into the nearby houses on Lansdowne Road – as well as the stadium pitch – and the building had to accommodate the ex- isting railway, and an external training pitch,” he says. Controlled access to and from the
ground was also a major concern within 40 Read Sports Management online
sportsmanagement.co.uk/digital
Karen Maxwell talks to Dublin’s Aviva Stadium architectural and pitch designers to find out how it fits the bill for both rugby and football
its complicated, residential location and Vickery says more entrances/exits were added to prevent spectator congestion in the surrounding area. Tunnels have been constructed under the railway so that the level crossing gates remain closed before and after an event, while a passenger concourse for the railway station and an upgrade of the river bank were also added for safer access to and from the stadium. Another key design issue was to en-
sure the traditional ‘Lansdowne Roar’ stayed within the stadium walls during an exciting international fixture. “The stadium consists of a continuous curvi- linear-shaped stand, enclosing all four sides of the ground. The seat tiers are located as close to the pitch as possible and every seat offers an unobstructed view of the action,” Vickers explains. “This creates an exciting atmosphere during a game and keeps noise pollu- tion to a minimum.”
Issue 1 2011 © cybertrek 2011
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