Lansdowne Road to be renamed ‘Aviva Stadium’
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And here’s the latest photo’s of works at the site…
http://www.lrsdc.ie/gallery/singlecategory.asp?PCID=104
True, that Havelock Sq end looks rediculous.
Just like Hill 16 and the new Nally Stand at Croker.
Two new stadiums with arse ends!
From The Irish Times – thoroughly enjoyable, up there with Flann 🙂
An Irishman’s Diary
Saturday, February 14, 2009
IT’S HARD to imagine anyone casually referring to the “Aviva Stadium†in the near future, unless under contractual obligation to do so. Still, time changes everything. You don’t hear people talk about heading up to “Jones’s Road Stadium†these days, never mind to the “City and Suburban Racecourseâ€. And Archbishop Croke paid nothing like €40 million for his exclusive naming rights, writes Frank McNally
No doubt Aviva will pump even more money into promoting the new name and overcoming public resistance to its use. Which is why, if I were a resident of the actual Lansdowne Road, I might now be exploring the possibility of flogging the exclusive naming rights for that too. Aviva Avenue has quite a nice ring to it. And in these troubled times, when even top bankers may have to get by on €2 million a year, one has to make money where one can.
It wouldn’t have to be Aviva Avenue, either. I don’t mean to teach Lansdowne residents how to suck eggs. But again, if I were in their shoes, I would invite tenders from the other insurance companies, if only to concentrate minds at Aviva headquarters. The competition might welcome an opportunity to queer the pitch (as it were). Thus, Axa Avenue has a nice ring too. And one could probably get used to living on Quinn Direct Boulevard, eventually, if the money was right.
Anyway, I’ll leave the Lansdowne residents’ committee to mull that over. The main point I want to make today is that, if even such a piece of hallowed ground as Lansdowne Road can be renamed for commercial ends, perhaps it’s time to abandon altogether the convention whereby public places and buildings are called after the famous dead.
More to the point I suggest that, in the desperate economic straits wherein we find ourselves, the Aviva precedent points a way forward for the Government, which presides over a vast range of treasures, many of which the private sector would love to get their names on.
Let’s start with the GPO. Its matronly façade already suffers the indignity of having to gaze across the street at a shop selling kinky knickers and adult leisure accessories with names like “The Rampant Rabbitâ€. How much worse can it get? Would it really hurt if we had to refer to it as the “Vodaphone GPOâ€, or the “GPO2 Arena“? Sure, critics would carp about desecrating the birthplace of the Republic. But the Minister for Communications could take a leaf out of the FAI/IRFU textbook by stressing how the money would go into developing that same Republic (especially at under-age level). And, after the initial storm, we’d be used to the new name before we knew it.
I suppose one might draw the line at selling new-name rights for the Dáil. The Seanad, however, is a different matter. If the so-called “upper†house can justify itself at all in these times, when our uppers is what we’re on, it will surely have to attract sponsorship. Again one thinks of the mobile phone companies – which, with their myriad offers of “unlimited talk-timeâ€, would present the Seanad with a natural fit.
Once the GPO and the Seanad were renamed, there would be no stopping the scheme. Newgrange, the Rock of Cashel, the Cliffs of Moher: their name-plates could all be put out to hire, without affecting the attractions’ intrinsic quality. To paraphrase Shakespeare: that which we call a rose would smell as sweet — and possibly even sweeter — if someone paid us €40 million to rename it.
I could see Dublin City Council taking a lead role in the trend, having already privatised its pavements in return for 450 bicycles and a few toilets. With the same hard-nosed business sense, it could easily engineer a situation where Grafton Street became “JC Decaux Promenade†– in return for which the advertising company might agree to replace the 300 bikes that will end up in the bottom of the canal after the first week.
In fact, there is a precedent for a whole city being renamed for commercial reasons – and an Irish city at that. I refer, of course, to Londonderry, rebuilt in the early 17th century with money from the City of London and rebranded accordingly. This has not been entirely successful, it’s true.
Change happens slowly in the North and, 400 years on, the new name is still at the bedding-in stage. No doubt the city fathers originally deflected criticisms of it by saying that the money was being used to develop Derry, especially at under-age level. But the majority population continues stubbornly to use the old name. Something for the sponsors of Aviva Stadium/Lansdowne Road to think about there.
Even so, and if nothing else, a naming rights scheme for Irish towns and cities could replace the current, largely useless twinning phenomenon. In future one might be greeted at the urban limits by signs saying: “Welcome to Limerick. Presented in Association with Nivea for Men.†Hard-pressed as they are for funds, I believe many county councils would consider the outright sale of naming rights to strategic-fit companies. Cavan could team up with a British financial firm to become the “Prudential Countyâ€, for example.
Louth, sponsored by Armitage Shanks, could be the “Wee County†in more ways than one. And so on. Perhaps readers will have their own suggestions.
Anglo Irish Dail?
Dahl in association with gandi, wild rice and ghee keeping the peace;)
Where is todayo?
@gunter wrote:
Supporting piers at the Havelock Square end are one thing, but how are they going to get columns into the Lansdowne Road end? The upper terraces wrap around here, don’t they, or is it going to be a lop-sided hybrid roof, 3/4 ring structure, springing from column support at one end?
Anyway I have to go and get the dogs their dinner.:rolleyes:
Yeah, from those Aerial photos it does look as if this is gonna be a 3/4 ring. But the renders don’t even seem to suggest a graceful, sinuous curve, but a rather clunky frame structure.
Like I said – I’m a fan of these massive stadium structures generally and i’m sure it’ll be impressive when complete. Still though. It looks disappointing as of now.
As for the naming rights. Surely the only reason for rebuilding the stadium on such a cramped, unsuitable site was the wealth of history associated with the location – the oldest rugby stadium in the world – and encapsulated by its name and location!
By selling its name they’ve diluted this so badly. Pure greed. 😡
@alonso wrote:
as for the capacity, 54000 did the job for donkeys years. Many people bemoan the fact that a lot of the people at Croker haven’t a clue what’s going on in front of them, especially in the soccer where the only decent atmosphere has been Georgia last week as the fairweathers stayed away. I can’t wait to get back to a more intimate crowd at Lansdowne.
The new lansdowne is loaded with corporate seating, many of which it could just as easily be said, have no clue at all what is going on either. There was no lack of atmosphere at Ireland v France last week, and pretty much everyone around me realised what was happening in front of them.
Webcam shows the arches being put in to place, unlike what i’m disappointed to see them resort to obvious & clunky engineering.
http://www.sisk.ie/files/sisk/admin/uploads/W2_F_Feature_Image_2052.bmp
i think the roof structure somewhat mitigates the “arse end” nature of the North terrace. It doesn’t look as bad as Croker and the enclosed nature helps alleviate this too
The open Hill 16 end of Croke Park is my favorite part of the stadium in terms of its urban setting and adds richness to the architectural experience that a closed bowl would miss (I concede it has atmospheric issues for the stadium itself). It allows the drama of the ‘cantilever’ to be experienced from inside and outside the stadium particularly picturesque in a urban sense in and around Clonliffe Road. I am expectant of a similar relationship between Landsdowne Road and Havelock Square in terms of juxtaposition of scale and visual texture. For me these juxtapositions of scale are the only thing that can approach a wholly urban version of that feeling of the sublime readily achieved by natural settings and it is a personal joy that we have two major stadiums embedded in the historical, residential landscape of our city.
I hope they’re reinforcing the glass over that north-end – looks like quite a few balls are going to bounce off it!!
The fact is that there will be 10,000 corporate seats in the new stadium, I think it was originally meant to be 8,000. This is obviously going to have a serious impact on the number of tickets available to the ordinary punter.
Nobody is suggesting that we need another 80,000 capacity stadium but theres no getting away from the fact that this proposal is somewhat lacking in ambition. 40,000 seats for the real fans just isnt acceptable.
What do the rest of you guys think, was there ever really a desire to leave Lansdowne Road for a new site?
I think that the IRFU/FAI will simply buy up properties at the Havelock Square/single tier end over time and complete the stadium properly some time in the future.
50,000 is too small, but I would imagine that if Lansdowne Road were to be ‘finished’ like I have mentioned above, the capacity would be brought up to between 60,000 and 65,000, which would be just about right.
@kinsella wrote:
I think that the IRFU/FAI will simply buy up properties at the Havelock Square/single tier end over time and complete the stadium properly some time in the future.
50,000 is too small, but I would imagine that if Lansdowne Road were to be ‘finished’ like I have mentioned above, the capacity would be brought up to between 60,000 and 65,000, which would be just about right.
Yes, I think so too. But “finishing” the stadium at a later date will just lead to more pointless expense.
In response to the actual thread title itself, it is such a pity our amazing new stadium has been furnished with such a crap name for the sake of a few bob. But there ya go. The PD philosophy lives on. Sell off everything you can to the private sector.
Lansdowne Stadium has been Lansdowne Stadium for over 100 years. An insurance firm can’t change that as far as I’m concerned.
Ah but they can alas. It’s surprising how quickly renaming takes hold in the public consciousness, largely due to younger generations’ exposure to media. The majority of concert-attenders already call The Point The O2 from what I’ve experienced – a remarkably quick turnaround.
Very true GrahamH….I’ve noticed that too.
@GrahamH wrote:
Ah but they can alas. It’s surprising how quickly renaming takes hold in the public consciousness, largely due to younger generations’ exposure to media. The majority of concert-attenders already call The Point The O2 from what I’ve experienced – a remarkably quick turnaround.
Is that The Point Depot or The Point Theater your referring to? 😉
@Peter Fitz wrote:
Webcam shows the arches being put in to place, unlike what i’m disappointed to see them resort to obvious & clunky engineering.
http://www.sisk.ie/files/sisk/admin/uploads/W2_F_Feature_Image_2052.bmp
I think the engineering is amazing.:)
I’m not an engineer, but I do not consider the images I have seen to be ‘clunky’. On the contrary they appear to be extremely complex and beautifully shaped (and, no doubt, much more expensive than standard ‘clunky’ type structures such as might otherwise be used – Croker (below) for example).
Re the IGB site being better – as far as I know this site is (and was) owned by developers (including DDDA) who paid a very high price for it. Even if it was a better site (in my view it was not even close in terms of suitability) it would likely have doubled the cost of the Stadium. An easy answer is to this cost argument is that the IRFU could have redeveloped the Lansdowne site for other uses – but it is zoned Z9 (Open Space) and intensive redevelopment might not have been permitted – and would hardly have been welcomed by local residents?
I don’t think the name change matters all that much so long as the stadium is at Lansdowne Road – but it would matter a lot more if the stadium had been relocated.
Yeah croke park will always be The City and Suburban racecourse to me 🙂
I’m just glad that the stadium will be back at home and not somewhere like Blanchardstown – can’t wait to return to slattery’s for a few post match pints
yeh Ballsbridge is still the best place for the oul eggball and soccer….
as for Croker, I still call it the Jones’ Road Recreational Grounds, home of Bohemians FC, a soccer ground
Creating unique geometry at Lansdowne Road Stadium
30 January 2009
Why concrete is Buro Happold’s material of choiceGeoff Werran, project director, and Fergus McCormick, structural engineering leader, of Buro Happold describe the concrete works at the new Aviva (Lansdowne Road) Stadium in Dublin.
The Aviva Stadium (previously Lansdowne Road) has a long and proud sporting history. The oldest international rugby ground in the world, it had seen many developments since its beginnings, but it was recognized for some time that it no longer provided the requirements of an international sporting arena. Lansdowne Road Stadium Development Company, a joint venture between the IRFU and the FAI, was established to redevelop the stadium into a world class sporting facility.
The chosen design for the redevelopment is the work of multi-national engineering consultants Buro Happold and international architects, HOK Sports, working with Scott Tallon Walker.
The new Aviva Stadium is the first truly site responsive stadium of its kind in the world. Its form, mass, materials and aspect are defined by the site and its surrounds. The proposed stadium consists of a continuous curvilinear shaped stand enclosing all four sides of the ground. The south, east and west stands all have four tiers of seating with the majority of the spectators in the desirable side locations of the pitch. On the north side there is only one tier, as the stadium comes down dramatically in height to minimize the impact of the building on the adjoining neighbourhoods.
The design is a state-of-the-art modern stadium, which will have an all seated capacity of 50,000. All seating will covered by the roof.
Site works on the stadium are substantially complete and work on the roof structure and glazing has recently commenced. Buro Happold delivered a full structural engineering service to the project including full reinforcement detailing and scheduling, and the rest of this article describes the uses of concrete within the project.
Stadium structural design and use of concrete
The form of the stadium quickly evolved to the curved one whose shape is already seen on site. This form placed floor areas and concourse widths in accordance with functional performance. In detailed design, working using parametric software, the buildings sections and plan were optimized. An additional key feature in developing the sleek design with a moderate overall height for economy was slim floor-to-floor dimensions.
It was clear to us as designers that the fluid geometries and shallow storeys were best suited to being mostly constructed with a concrete frame.
The suspended floors are generally in-situ flat slabs spanning generally up to around 8m to 10m, but with variable cantilevers at the building edges of up to 4m. Pre-stressed concrete floor solutions are always considered, and as a practice, we have extensive experience of their design and construction, but complexities of stadium mean they are difficult to deliver easily and economically in Europe.
Columns are in situ and range in shape from circular, square, rectangular to the feature blade columns at the edge of the building, whose geometry and elevation, illustrate and help display the dramatic form of the building.
The seating tiers are generally formed of conventional precast concrete units, but for large areas of the lower tier, an insitu solution was developed with a slimmer overall depth to enable better space usage below the tier whilst maintaining ground floor construction above the high water table.
Precast seating tier units at lower tier, premium tier and box level are supported by concrete rakers. As with the lower tier, detailed considerations resulted in Buro Happold delivering both precast and in situ concrete solutions. After the appointment of the main contractor, John Sisk, collaborative workshops between the design and construction team explored and evaluated the solutions in the light of specialist sub-contractor preference. The design solution remained with the exception of some premium rakers which were revised from in-situ to precast to help trim time from the programme.
In addition to the major frame of the stadium, the project has included a double storey concrete basement for plant and attenuation constructed below the water table.
Concrete finishes
Specification of the finishes by Buro Happold followed a detailed study of the function and visibility of every wall, column, floor and beam surface. At tender, all surfaces were defined as being formed or unformed, visible or non-visible, requiring patterned formwork or not. The finish type for unformed surfaces was defined according to whether a further architectural finish would be used and the requirement for the form type: steel, ply or GRP was specified. Outline requirements for the board patterning were set-out and drawn.
Post-contract, the design team and construction team worked closely to ensure the project requirements were understood by each party before the contractor proposed form layouts for all of the works. These were reviewed by the design team, in a proactive and positive practical relationship with the contractor. These processes have helped deliver finished concrete patterning arrangements of excellent control and quality.
For balanced reasonable economic design, stadia inherently involve extensive unfinished surfaces. The project team on the Aviva Stadium have embraced the philosophy of delivering maximum appearance and quality to the exposed concrete face of the building, using all the subtleties and tools available along with the talents and experience of the personnel involved.
Site works
Significant site works engineered by Buro Happold have included the demolition of the former stadium West stand over the DART and the creation of a new rail corridor integrated within the overall development next to the stadium. This was constructed over a series of highly programmed Bank Holiday rail possessions, with a precast solution designed by Buro Happold to enable rapid installation.
At the North of the site, Buro Happold proposed a realignment, new structure and site sequence methodology for the Swan Culvert. This was agreed with Dublin Council as a required and necessary improvement. The new sewer portions are formed of pre-cast segments.
Conclusion
The application of knowledge and experience of Buro Happold’s stadia expertise helped create the design for this complex project. A key part of this has been exploiting the potential and full variety of techniques of concrete design, detailing and construction. Since award, the construction is on programme. This is a tribute to many things: the skills of the design team; the energies and talents of the construction team, which embraced the philosophies of the solution and aspirations of the client for a world-class building; and an understanding client and project management team who have linked the various elements together – with great teamwork between all three.
New name, new bad results – Aviva, which owns Hibernian Aviva, has just reported a net loss of £885m sterling in 2008.
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