| TYPE: | Stadium |
| SEATS: | 52,000 |
| CLIENT: | Everton FC |
| CONCEPT: | MEIS |
| SERVICE: | Lead Architect |
| APPOINTMENT: | November 2018 |
Stadium
Bramley Moore Dock, Liverpool, UK
A new home for Everton FC on a UNESCO World Heritage site in Liverpool
Everton Football Club’s new 52,000-seat stadium on the Bramley-Moore Dock in Liverpool will kick-start the urban regeneration of the northern end of Liverpool’s historic dockland. Pattern is proud to be realising this ambitious vision with the Club, who have been searching for replacement to their venerated home at Goodison Park for the best part of twenty years.
Situated in a Unesco World Heritage Site and the Stanley Dock Conservation area, the new stadium celebrates the history of the Bramley-Moore Dock, drawing on the “brick box” warehouse typology of neighbouring buildings like the Tobacco Warehouse and Titanic Hotel. Crowned with the curved barrel roof, massive picture windows bring views of Liverpool and the Merseyside into the seating bowl, while the cantilevered south balcony promises stunning views of Liverpool city centre from the stadium concourse.
The stadium is carefully sited to respect the Grade II listed structures on the site and form a well-appointed fan plaza to the east for pre- and post-match entertainment. To the west, an elevated viewing deck providing sweeping views to the Wirral, the Mersey riverside, and the Irish Sea beyond. This public space will mark a fitting end to the planned Mersey river walk through the Liverpool Waters development and provide protection from the harsh maritime climate for spectators in an outdoor concourse below.
Pattern joined the Club’s design team in 2018, when invited by Everton to join as technical architect to support New York-based MEIS Architects. Pattern advised Meis in the development of the scheme for planning, sports architecture and UK regulation compliance and procurement.
In 2020, the Club appointed Laing O’Rourke as preferred contractor under a Pre-Construction Services Agreement (PCSA). LOR appointed Pattern as Lead Consultant to deliver the MEIS concept. Working with engineers Buro Happold and landscape architects Planit-IE, Pattern led the design team in a full review and design development of the scheme and submitted a planning application addendum in September 2020. The scheme was unanimously approved by Liverpool City Council planning committee in February 2021.
The project poses some extraordinary technical challenges:
· Located within a Unesco WHS and Conservation Area; Pattern consulted extensively with Local Planning Authority and Historic England case officers to determine the most sensitive design details and approach.
· Access from only one side of the site, requiring detailed pedestrian modelling and consultation with emergency services
· Harsh marine environment requiring C4 corrosion protection and detailing
· Sensitive repair and infilling of the open water dock