Sports and stadia

At 55kg per square metre, the roof of Mbombela Stadium weighs only half as much as the average trussed stadium roof, setting international standards for structural efficiency. We helped deliver structural designMott MacDonald has extensive experience in working as part of successful design teams on all aspects of stadia and sports related projects. From this broad base we've expanded our teams to further meet clients' needs, and now advise on financial, business and cost planning and all operational issues associated with such facilities.

Our latest assignments include South Africa’s Mbombela Stadium, built for the Football World Cup, Glasgow’s National Indoor Sports Arena and Velodrome, one of the sites for the 2014 Commonwealth games, and the UK’s Edgbaston Cricket Ground.

The design solutions we deliver are flexible and not restricted by a one-event approach. We accommodate variable fields of play for multi-sports and overlay for special sporting events, exhibitions, concerts and conferences. Our multi-disciplinary expertise can also be brought in to support the client with technical reviews.

Stadia are unique and often complex. We offer worldclass expertise with technical skills covering all aspects of stadia development – from architecturally-ambitious steel structures to expert knowledge of the issues surrounding bowl design, especially the area of dynamic response.

The arrangement of a bowl structure is heavily influenced by the structural solution for the fixed or moving roof but primarily derived to maximise the quality of the view of the field of play. Our designs express form and function having considered efficiency, risks and potential programme constraints. We ensure that the response of the bowl to dynamic excitation, particularly in concert mode where dancing can result in resonance and vibration of the terracing, meets standards of comfort for spectators.

Other important design aspects we’ve supported clients with include public safety, sightlines, pitch health, environmental impact, long span structures, services loads and impact on existing infrastructure, power systems, communications, water supply plus peaks in demand.

For retractable roofs, the key issue involves the integration of the moving roof transportation system with respect to moving loads, emergency stop, unforeseen obstruction and the interaction of the fixed and moving roof deflections. We have developed innovative solutions to moving lower tiers to accommodate stage cut outs or to vary the size of the field of play.

Effective sustainable design is paramount to providing optimum financial and environmental performance. Truly effective reduction of resource use can only be achieved through investigating all alternatives and by undertaking associated life cycle costing analysis to determine where spending will result in the best return on investment. We have leading experts in whole-life costing enabling us to provide sustainability solutions.

Some of our key capabilities in the sporting arena includes:

• Civil, structural and geotechnical engineering
• Façade engineering
• Fire services
• Management and economics consultancy
• Mechanical, electrical and public health engineering
• Sustainability design