Swansea's development

From the local Council (it's a bit of a read):

Swansea's rich sporting history and heritage is embedded deeply within our community. Swansea Rugby Club, the 'All Whites', played at the world famous St Helen's ground, which it shared with Glamorgan Cricket Club, from the late 1880s. The glory days saw St Helen's as an international rugby venue until 1954 and was witness to Swansea's 11-3 defeat of New Zealand in 1935 when it became the first club side to be victorious over the 'big three' southern hemisphere sides - Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. However, by the late 20th century, St Helens was no longer a suitable venue for major rugby events.

Similarly, Swansea City Football Club, the 'Swans', can trace the use of their Vetch Field ground back to 1911 when they played on a 'clinker' surface, as a result of the ground being the site of the former coal store for the local gas works. The sports ground was shoehorned in between terraced housing, with the stands overlooked by a Territorial Army depot and Swansea Prison. By 2004, the once record attendance of nearly 33,000 had been reduced to an official capacity of nearer 11,000. The condition of the ground was deteriorating rapidly and the west stand roof had been removed for safety reasons with the remaining main terrace acting as a roof for the lower tier. The Vetch Field was no longer an acceptable venue.

The Dream

1999 saw the completion of the world-beating 75,000 seat Millennium Stadium for the Rugby World Cup. Not to be outdone, Swansea City Council was determined to secure a nationally important sports stadium capable of accommodating both local and international events.

The Reality

The brief was concise but the reality of the situation was a far cry from this. Neither the rugby or football clubs had money to invest in new facilities. The City & County of Swansea also didn't have capital to invest in the venture but it did have one key asset - it owned the proposed site. This was the home of the Morfa Athletics Stadium and adjacent playing fields, a couple of miles outside the city centre. The location had been the site of heavy industrial exploitation since the 14th century. Uses have included coal mining, copper, silver, gold, lead and zinc smelting, and steel making. The site itself had been the home of the Morfa Copper Works and Landore Silver Works, with production dating back to 1835 up until 1924. Spoil from these activities and other works was stored at the site long after production ceased.

The Design Solution

The City & County of Swansea's solution was to include additional land in the development to create the potential for a major mixed-use retail and leisure development opportunity. The Council invited developer-led consortia to submit proposals for a 425,000 ft2 retail park that would also deliver a 25,000 seat stadium and the necessary supporting infrastructure.

The final design was for a more realistic and sustainable 'bowl' venue for 20,000 seats on a site to the west of the river, funded by a 355,000 ft2 retail park on land to the east of the river. The two parts of the site are connected by 1.3km of new highway infrastructure including a footbridge and highway bridge over the river, with the final value of the development being in excess of £50m. Construction commenced in the autumn 2003 with the stadium constructed by Interserve Project Services under a design & build form of contract. The opening game took place in the stadium between Swansea and Fulham on 23rd July 2005.

The stadium's architects, TTH of Newcastle, were keen to create a stadium that wasn't simply a sporting venue, but rather somewhere that would play a vital role in the sporting, entertainment, business and community life of the city. Their design for the stadium comprised an all-seater 'bowl' solution with a single tier of terracing to get the spectators as close as possible to the pitch. Access is gained to the seating areas via vomitories from the generous concourse to a virtually continuous lateral walkway. This walkway, in conjunction with regular mezzanine level lifts, gives excellent access to a wide range of seating options for wheelchair users in all sections and levels of the ground. The larger West Stand has 29 executive boxes with conferencing and hospitality facilities on three levels.

The structural form, designed by URS Corporation, comprises a steel frame supporting 24 rows of precast concrete terracing units. The 30m long tied cantilever clear-span roof structure gives unobstructed pitch views from all seats with a cantilever tip at 21.7m about pitch level at the touchlines. A total of 2,600 tonnes of steelwork was used in the construction of the stadium. State of the art design technology was deployed, resulting in an attractive, elegant and economic structure, utilising slender steelwork elements. With an overall height of 30.5m, the structure dominates the skyline creating a focal point for the local area.

One key challenge was dealing with the numerous ground obstructions. Ground was underlain by areas of very soft organic clays, making the use of traditional ground improvement methods technically unviable. The solution was to drive 1,500 precast concrete piles through the made ground and soft clays to refusal in the underling dense gravels. Each pile position was pre-probed and any obstructions encountered within a depth of 5m from the surface removed. This method of working resulted in a success rate of over 95 per cent during actual piling operations.

The combined use by the rugby and football clubs means up to 60 games will be played in the stadium in a season. The potential problems of grass growth in 'bowl' stadia are well known. The solution adopted was a seeded pitch reinforced with plastic 'desso' fibres. To ensure the pitch foundation remains adequately aerated to promote good grass growth, the pitch drainage system can be reversed to blow air across the base of the roots.

The Legacy

Swansea now has a world-class multi-use sporting venue to be proud of. The stadium proudly hosted its first international game, between Wales and Slovenia, on 17th August 2005. It is now the new home for the Ospreys regional rugby team and the newly promoted League One football team Swansea City FC. The stadium is already securing a healthy share of conferencing and exhibition opportunities.

The solutions found for Swansea New Stadium act as a template for other clubs and councils faced with the challenge of upgrading sporting facilities in an increasingly difficult economic climate. The innovative funding approach, coupled with the willingness to link a community facility with a private sector commercial development, has resulted in a sustainable sporting legacy, which will benefit the whole community for decades to come.