The architecture firm responsible for building the new Old Trafford have claimed that they are committed to maintaining the history of the club in spite of building a new stadium.
It was announced last week that United had finally decided to build a new ground instead of refurbishing the current Old Trafford.
Patrick Campbell, an architect at Foster + Partners, spoke to the club’s official website to go into more detail about the proposed building of a new 100,000 seater arena.
Commenting on what instructions the firm received from United he claimed, “the big challenge we got from Sir Jim Ratcliffe was the idea of generating the finest football stadium in the world. Football-first, all about atmosphere, fan experience, making this the best stadium in the world to come to.”
He mentioned aspects such as proximity to the pitch, steepness of the stands and the acoustics as all major considerations that have been taken into account.
The architect also asserted that the goal is that United can continue to play at the existing Old Trafford right up until the new stadium is built so consequently, “we’re locating the new stadium broadly in the middle of the Bridgewater Canal and the railway line, just to the west of the existing stadium.”
He also assured fans that the stadium would be a “football first” ground, so there will be no retractable pitch as they want to ensure that the grass is always of the highest quality.
It was also stressed in the interview that they want the new ground to feel like a natural evolution of Old Trafford so they need to “find a space and continue that heritage of the stadium.”
When pushed further on this he claimed, “a lot of communication that happened at the beginning of this process was about what are the most important things and lots and lots of feedback, ideas and conversations.”
The company want to hold further discussions with community groups and fan groups about what aspects of the club’s heritage need to be brought to the new stadium.
When asked about the iconic Munich clock which commemorates those lost in the 1958 air disaster he stated, “we were honoured and privileged to be at the recent memorial. It’s so powerful. It’s so important and it’s non-negotiable. That has to play such an important part in the design of how this all comes forward. We want to work with fans to understand what the important pieces are and what’s the best way of continuing that beautiful story of the history and making sure we can continue to honour those memories.”
The Trinity statue of George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton was also discussed and Campbell stated that they have a location in mind for the tribute to three of the club’s greatest players.
“That’s 450 metres of tree-lined, activated — museums, shops, bars, hotels, entertainment — route, which links to the route coming from the cricket ground and Wharfside. So that’s maybe where we put the Trinity Statue, so that just as today, it faces towards and honours the stadium.”
Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
