Lansdowne Road Stadium
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@Global Citizen wrote:
It can be argued that no one goes to a match to watch it on big screens but they have become a part of a modern stadium experience.
From an article in the NYT this week it appears that more and better video is key to keeping fans in the stadium and away from their 50″ HD TV at home.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/sports/football/29stadium.html
Was actually pretty happy with the view from the far reaches of the upper south stand, great view of the pitch overall & the trusses weren’t a factor from that vantage point. It’s certainly an odd stadium inside & its the exterior seems to come at the expense of the interior – the steel work is very heavy in spots, difficult to tell from my vantage though if it would in fact obscure views of the ball in flight.
I like the transparency of the place, the cladding allows for great views while your having your pint & whatever else about the dipped northern end, it does uniquely connect the place with the city and surroundings.
It feels, and obviously is, a lot more compact than Croke Park, and should be pretty good for atmosphere & noise … the small amount there was yesterday, mainly for the mexican wave, seemed to bounce around the place.
The flood lights seem to be all over the steel work, some set very far back, will be interested to see how that works out and if shadows aren’t an issue.
The wife was none to impressed with the amount of women’s toilets, and sure enough, there a long queue at half time, and only 35,000 in the place … put Michael Buble on stage, and I think they’ll have a problem!
Hard to some it up overall, a lot of positives, but just that bloody steel work, it’s difficult to think of a more inelegant solution, and so at odds with the outline of the structure it supports. Still, looking forward to seeing it full for a decent match, it could be a cracking place for atmosphere.
looking at that last picture I’m struck by the finality of the design. There seems to be no prospect of ever extending the ground at the far end – say if they ever got control of more land. The only possibility would be to put in a straight section of stand-alone seating as the corners could never come round because of the trusses
It looks like having to taper down so dramatically at the Havelock Sq End is at least partly responsible for the intrustion of the steel-work.
Also, imo, the big screen would be better located directly behind the goal. Firstly, it would enable more to view it, sceondly, I think it would give less of an unfinished look to that end.
C
@GregF wrote:
Watching it on TV when there was a kicking opportunity for a conversion or penalty it was hard to distinguish the goalposts against the roof framework of the shallow end. The shallow end row of seats looked rediculous! Should have made it more higher. Still, it’s better than when it was a kip.
🙁
Out of curiosity, do the posts have to be white? Could they be painted a different colour for contrast with the background?
@wearnicehats wrote:
looking at that last picture I’m struck by the finality of the design. There seems to be no prospect of ever extending the ground at the far end – say if they ever got control of more land. The only possibility would be to put in a straight section of stand-alone seating as the corners could never come round because of the trusses
Yeah, I’d been thinking of the possibility of them building up that fourth side to increase the capacity should they ever succesfully buy out the current Havelock Square end residents in future but they’d basically need to rebuild the entire roof structure to do that, it’s all interlinked. Still, the quirkiness of the scooped down effect gives it an unusual character, I think. Pity about the over-engineered look and looming effect of the enormo-trusses but there’s not much that can be done about it now.
@thebig C wrote:
It looks like having to taper down so dramatically at the Havelock Sq End is at least partly responsible for the intrustion of the steel-work.
Also, imo, the big screen would be better located directly behind the goal. Firstly, it would enable more to view it, sceondly, I think it would give less of an unfinished look to that end.
C
I doubt the big screen would be allowed in front of the posts.
Also it would create a big shadow on the houses behind which is why the back wall is transparent in the first place.
Excellent photos Peter Fitz…the stadium looks superb. Watched the game between Man U and the League of Ireland selection on TV and the stadium looked great this time, with being full etc…. sunshine and then floodlights. I’m off to see Ireland V Argentina on Wednesday.
Just a pity the shallow end is so low. The terrace is even lower than what was previously there. Hump the residents I would have made it higher!
Also as a quick fix, maybe flags and banners could be drapped behind that goal at the shallow end.
I was literally in the very top row of seats in the upper stand.. The huge trusses loom right over you and obstruct the view of the far stand and the video screen but you can see the entire pitch which is the crucial thing I suppose. It might be a different story for rugby though where the ball is high in the air a lot of the time.
On the plus side, I really like the feeling of connection with the city that you get from the translucent cladding and the scooped-out northern end, there are some excellent views of Dublin from up there and the place looked great with the orange-pink evening light flooding in. Also, entering and exiting was relatively painless (though I heard horror stories from people who tried to use the wrong entrances the week before at the LOI vs Man Utd game).
Negative points: it’s been said many times already but that clunky mass of steelwork really does dominate the whole feel of the stadium. Also the high percentage of seating devoted to the expensive premium packages has the potential to rob the place of its atmosphere (that middle tier was half empty most of the time during the Argentina game and took the longest time to empty and fill). Atmosphere was very subdued for the most part (bar the couple of hundred lads in the ‘singing section’) but I realise that this is par for the course with friendly games and that it generally takes time to develop in a new stadium.
@dermot_trellis wrote:
. It might be a different story for rugby though where the ball is high in the air a lot of the time.
.Argentina obviously had all the possession then.
Great Photo’s Alonso! (Much better than mine)
Great night at the Aviva Stadium was had, well bar the Irish performance. Great atmosphere etc… One thing however there was a bit of a crush at half time when folk went for refreshments….folk walking against the flow …..queues blocking the way etc..but other than that I give the new Aviva Stadium the thumbs up!
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