New Football Stadium Designs

[ChesterDave]

[Yozza]

Forest Green Rovers granted planning permission for all-wooden stadium

The world’s first football stadium made almost entirely out of wood, which will be home to League Two side Forest Green Rovers, has been granted planning permission.

Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the 5,000-capacity ‘Eco Park’ is set to be “the greenest football stadium in the world,” according to the club’s website.

An original proposal was rejected by Stroud District Council in June this year, before revised plans were passed by a majority of six to four earlier this month.

The new venue is described as a “state-of-the-art wooden stadium on Junction 13 of the M5, along with landscaped parking and two pitches, one of which will be a 4G playing surface, with access for the local community.”

In a video interview on the Forest Green Rovers website, the club’s chairman Dale Vince said: “I think it’s the right decision. This is a great project for Stroud … [it’s taken] five years, and before that we were looking for a site for three. It’s passed every hurdle. It was a surprise, last time, that it was turned down.”

“It’s still going to take several years - I think it’s going to take us a year of detailed design work,” Vince added. “This is an outline planning application. The best case [for the stadium opening] is three years if we started tomorrow.”

The club’s main sponsor, Ecotricity, explains in detail on its website how the initial application has been amended following the council’s rejection of the plans.

Forest Green Rovers already has a strong commitment to environmentalism and sustainability, and in 2017 was officially recognised at the world’s first vegan football club.

“FGR became the world’s first vegan football club because of the huge environmental and animal welfare impacts of livestock farming, as well as to improve player performance,” reads the relevant page on the official club website. “Lionel Messi, Jermaine Defoe, Lewis Hamilton, Nate Diaz and Venus Williams have all adopted vegan diets to improve performance.”

Forest Green Rovers are currently sixth in League Two, in the play-off places, and play Macclesfield Town at home on Sunday.

[ame="https://youtu.be/HcJtz2JYdyY"]forest green rovers eco park design film b031116 inside - YouTube[/ame]

[Roboklopp]

That’s cool but WTF is a 4G playing surface?

[Kenneth]

It's a hybrid natural and synthetic turf mix.

[Roboklopp]

Cool. Does it say that somewhere- am I being dim?

[Yozza]

That’s cool but WTF is a 4G playing surface?

Fourth Generation - it's basically made up of artificial grass with chopped up bits of rubber....?

[dom9]

That is very nice

[Cormack74]

There's some arguments that 4G doesn't actually exist because 4G is theoretically 3G standard but without the need for a rubber crumb.

And I always thought 4G was extra shock absorbing 3G - the type used by Saracens etc but with more give. So who knows?

There's certainly no grass involved though

[Norbs]

I thought artificial pitches were banned by the football league? My other side Bromley plays on one and they'd need to replace it in the unlikely event that they'd get promotion

[Saveloy]

Forest Green Rovers granted planning permission for all-wooden stadium

The world’s first football stadium made almost entirely out of wood, which will be home to League Two side Forest Green Rovers, has been granted planning permission.

Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the 5,000-capacity ‘Eco Park’ is set to be “the greenest football stadium in the world,” according to the club’s website.

An original proposal was rejected by Stroud District Council in June this year, before revised plans were passed by a majority of six to four earlier this month.

The new venue is described as a “state-of-the-art wooden stadium on Junction 13 of the M5, along with landscaped parking and two pitches, one of which will be a 4G playing surface, with access for the local community.”

In a video interview on the Forest Green Rovers website, the club’s chairman Dale Vince said: “I think it’s the right decision. This is a great project for Stroud … [it’s taken] five years, and before that we were looking for a site for three. It’s passed every hurdle. It was a surprise, last time, that it was turned down.”

“It’s still going to take several years - I think it’s going to take us a year of detailed design work,” Vince added. “This is an outline planning application. The best case [for the stadium opening] is three years if we started tomorrow.”

The club’s main sponsor, Ecotricity, explains in detail on its website how the initial application has been amended following the council’s rejection of the plans.

Forest Green Rovers already has a strong commitment to environmentalism and sustainability, and in 2017 was officially recognised at the world’s first vegan football club.

“FGR became the world’s first vegan football club because of the huge environmental and animal welfare impacts of livestock farming, as well as to improve player performance,” reads the relevant page on the official club website. “Lionel Messi, Jermaine Defoe, Lewis Hamilton, Nate Diaz and Venus Williams have all adopted vegan diets to improve performance.”

Forest Green Rovers are currently sixth in League Two, in the play-off places, and play Macclesfield Town at home on Sunday.

forest green rovers eco park design film b031116 inside - YouTube

Just down the road from me. Looks cool but I'm reserving my inner Nimby until I understand what they're doing with the traffic. I'm expecting a railway line to be built.

[Saveloy]

Anyone else trying to work out the scale on those architect designs?

How have they made a 5k stadium look that epic?

[baitman]

Anyone else trying to work out the scale on those architect designs?

How have they made a 5k stadium look that epic?

Id guess they have extended the roof outwards like a counterbalance, but also allowing for expansion.

[Fosterbloke]

I love it!

[Charly]

Great idea, but wont that be a fire hazard?

[Yozza]

Great idea, but wont that be a fire hazard?

The timber will be heavily treated so no - it's all outline planning anyway at the moment; the end design will be a lot more toned down I should imagine