Lansdowne Road Stadium

[EIA340600]

How big are those screens...They don't look overly massive, which is a bit of a shame.God knows we love overly massive...

[wearnicehats]

photographic evidence of sightline restrictions

[murrmurr]

http://www.lrsdc.ie/gallery/singlecategory.asp?PCID=131

from Wednesday.

[Starch]

Magnificent!

[Peter Fitz]

http://www.lrsdc.ie/gallery/singlecategory.asp?PCID=132

New interior shots, starting to lay the pitch.

[Punchbowl]

http://www.lrsdc.ie/gallery/singlecategory.asp?PCID=132

New interior shots, starting to lay the pitch.

Yet again the North end is largely absent from the photos. This 'U-Shaped stadium' term is really becoming a very Irish thing

U stands for Unfinished IMO. Why, oh why, can't we at least have one fully enclosed stadium?

[PaulC]

Here is a very good video of the stadium, filmed in the last couple of weeks...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl7MQ89VjlA

[kinsella]

I'd rather the seats were a darker shade of green.

[rumpelstiltskin]

I'd rather the seats were a darker shade of green.

Ya you're right. They should just demolish the place. Is there no end to the moaning of people on this website?

[Starch]

here here

[gunter]

Ah, sure it'll do, it's grand.

[vkid]

Will wait until its 100% finished but so far I think its poor. The trusses and the low end are awful and ruin what could have been really nice. Wasted opportunity imo and overall looks a bit shiiiite. Don't care if i'm moaning..its true.

[Global Citizen]

I don't think Kinsella was moaning.
He was only expressing an opinion for God's sake.
Can people not put their views across without being branded.

Anyway, regardless of what the stadium looks like the fact remains that the capacity is too small and therein lies the missed opportunity.

[Paul Clerkin]

I like the look of it externally - but for me, the primary purpose of a stadium is to allow people to watch the game - if there is obstructed view, then it is a fail by the designers. That's black and white for me, if when it opens, this is proven, then the development team fubared the project.

[Peter Fitz]

I like the look of it externally - but for me, the primary purpose of a stadium is to allow people to watch the game - if there is obstructed view, then it is a fail by the designers. That's black and white for me, if when it opens, this is proven, then the development team fubared the project.

Would have to agree, restricted sight lines just aren't acceptable (if that is indeed the case). I find it difficult to make my mind up on it overall, the bulk and crudeness of the truss work, particularly as it handles the sweep down to the single tier, definitely detracts and distracts ... though it is the necessity for the single tier that pretty much feeds the design ... the jury is still out for me on the interior, love the exterior;)

[tommyt]

I like the look of it externally - but for me, the primary purpose of a stadium is to allow people to watch the game - if there is obstructed view, then it is a fail by the designers. That's black and white for me, if when it opens, this is proven, then the development team fubared the project.

I wonder where the seats reserved for the yokels as part of the planning gain will be allocated

[PaulC]

I am 100% sure there is no restricted views of the pitch from any of the seats. If you look carefully at the photos or videos this can be established.

[foremanjoe]

I am 100% sure there is no restricted views of the pitch from any of the seats. If you look carefully at the photos or videos this can be established.

Sure that's perfect then.
We'll just kindly ask all teams playing there not to kick the ball too high above the pitch, so that the punters can get their money's worth.

[alonso]

Sure that's perfect then.
We'll just kindly ask all teams playing there not to kick the ball too high above the pitch, so that the punters can get their money's worth.

Ah now the Architects only signed off on the condition that Jack Charlton would never come back as manager (Rugby I hear y'say? Bah say I)

Looking at the pics and video, it seems that the corners of the pitch are visible from all seats but only time will tell

[kinsella]

Ya you're right. They should just demolish the place. Is there no end to the moaning of people on this website?

Yeah...........coz' that's the natural extension of what I was saying.

-----------

Thanks 'Global Citizen'

[Cathal Dunne]

Yeah...........coz' that's the natural extension of what I was saying.

-----------

Thanks 'Global Citizen'

Aye, you've fell victim to reductio ad absurdum there, kinsella.

[Tuborg]

It's interesting that there are considerably less shots of the bus shelter end in comparison to the rest of the stadium. It's hardly deliberate though!

The stadium bowl reminds me of a scaled down version of the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, (which holds 65,000 btw!) Externally, Lansdowne will be much more pleasing on the eye but thats not really the point is it? It's the quality of what's inside that counts and you can't really dress up that single tiered end as anything other than a failure!

It's difficult to be exact but from what I can see anyway, there only appears to be in the region of 10 rows of seating at that end! That is going to look piss poor and will surely have an impact on the atmosphere inside the ground aswell!

Estadio da Luz

[Cliff Barnes]

It's interesting that there are considerably less shots of the bus shelter end in comparison to the rest of the stadium. It's hardly deliberate though!

The stadium bowl reminds me of a scaled down version of the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, (which holds 65,000 btw!) Externally, Lansdowne will be much more pleasing on the eye but thats not really the point is it? It's the quality of what's inside that counts and you can't really dress up that single tiered end as anything other than a failure!

It's difficult to be exact but from what I can see anyway, there only appears to be in the region of 10 rows of seating at that end! That is going to look piss poor and will surely have an impact on the atmosphere inside the ground aswell!

Estadio da Luz

Hundreds of millions spent on both Croke Park and Landsdown Road and both are really only 75% finished with the Havelock Square end almost useless for accommodation.
50,000 seats i stoo few and compared to the superb Millennium Stadium in Cardiff not a great result really.

[foremanjoe]

I don't mean to be cynical, but I usually am, but will the reduced capacity result in the ticket prices increasing substantially?
Will face-value stand tickets for routine international matches be well over the 100euro mark?
That would almost be as annoying as having a truss plonked in front of your face for the duration of a game.

[publicrealm]

[quote="Tuborg"]

It's the quality of what's inside that counts and you can't really dress up that single tiered end as anything other than a failure!

It's difficult to be exact but from what I can see anyway, there only appears to be in the region of 10 rows of seating at that end! That is going to look piss poor and will surely have an impact on the atmosphere inside the ground aswell!

QUOTE]

Tuborg,

An original study for 65,000 seats at Lansdowne Road concluded that there would be unacceptable impacts on adjacent residential amenity - primarily arising from the required height and scale of the Stadium.

To address this, while staying on the same site (judged the most appropriate site in most other aspects), a decision was taken to reduce capacity from 65,000 to 51,000.

Even at 51,000 the north end has to be so close to O'Connell Gardens/Havelock Square that anything higher than the current dropped tiers would have been very undesirable in terms of residential amenity (due to very negative sunlight/daylight impacts) and absolutely impossible to deliver (in planning terms). Alternative designs on site could not address this.

The 65,000 seater might have been built elsewhere - but this really would have been a pity IMHO.

I'm not sure if a more enclosed stadium would look/feel better. Maybe it would - but I find the current shape is very interesting and distinctive - (a good thing in terms of international recognition) - and the view of the city during nightime events should be rather special.

I was on a tour a couple of weeks ago and the internal layout and finish is exceptional with a great sense of closeness to the pitch. I think its going to be a great stadium - better with 65,000 of course - but the very best obtainable in the circumstances.