Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
PROJECT - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
LOCATION - Tottenham, London
ENGINEER - Buro Happold, Walsh (PT Design)
CONSTRUCTION - Concrete foundations and lower bowl, steel upper bowl and roof
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, home to the famed Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, is not just a sporting arena but a marvel of modern engineering and architectural design. Opened in 2019, this stadium has set new standards in stadium design and multi-use functionality, integrating both football (soccer) and American football (NFL) within its structure. This article explores the innovative structural design elements that make this stadium a standout in the world of sports architecture.
Approaching the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is an experience in itself. The stadium sits amongst the usual North London scene - a weary high street, council and terraced housing. The space age structure appears in the distance providing a surprising contrast.
The stadium construction is a mix of concrete and steel. Concrete is used at the lower levels, providing robustness and inherent fire protection. Where larger spans are required (as in the roof) steel is used. The pictures below are of the South Stand which was constructed in steel.
The steel supports to the South stand became an architectural feature of the stadium and are referred to as ‘trees’. They are 26m high and support 44MN of vertical load (4400 tonnes). The geometry of the trees needed to satisfy the structural requirements (sufficient capacity to resist the axial and bending load), spacial requirements (avoiding floor plates, accessing support points) and the architectural vision. To design such an element takes a special level of collaboration between the structural engineer, architect and steel fabricator.
The stadium's groundbreaking dual-pitch system is a feat of engineering and a first of its kind in the UK. This innovative design allows the stadium to seamlessly host both football and American football games, catering to diverse sporting events while maintaining the highest quality playing surfaces for each sport.
At the surface level, the stadium boasts a state-of-the-art grass pitch for football. Beneath it lies the NFL pitch, constructed of artificial turf. The football pitch splits into three sections and slides under the South Stand, revealing the NFL pitch below. This transformation is facilitated by a sophisticated system of rails and wheels, allowing the transition to occur smoothly and efficiently. The engineering challenge was to design a system that could bear the weight of the retractable pitch sections, each weighing more than 3,000 tonnes. The solution involved a robust substructure with rails integrated into the stadium's foundation. This design ensures stability and alignment during the transition between the two pitches.
The dual-pitch design ensures that the football playing surface remains pristine, unaffected by the wear and tear of NFL games. The lower positioning of the NFL pitch at 1.6 meters below the football surface enhances sightlines for American football games. This design consideration is crucial for NFL events, where fans' viewing experience can be obstructed by players and staff on the sidelines..
Buro Happold are a multi disciplinary engineering design consultancy with offices in London, Bath, Edinburgh, Leeds and Manchester. You can read more about their work on Tottenham Hotspur Stadium here.
Walsh are structural engineering consultants based in London. They are specialists in post-tensioned concrete design - you can read more about their post-tensioning work here.
Note by Will W
Material inspired by article from November/December 2020 issue of The Structural Engineer.
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