‘The stadium can be built in five years’

This has to be one of the most exciting projects in the world today.

It starts with the most famous football club in the world, with a billion followers globally.

So it starts with the fans and it starts with the idea of making something which is so intense, it brings you close to the pitch.

Acoustically, it cultivates the roar as you move away from the stadium.

It’s not a fortress surrounded by a sea of cars. It’s open and it’s contained by an umbrella that harvests solar energy, harvesting rainwater.

But it’s protective, and it encloses arguably the largest public space in the world.

It’s welcoming, it’s open. It’s at the very heart of a new neighbourhood. And then it’s part of the city of Manchester, the fastest-growing city in the United Kingdom, a city, again, like no other.

It’s a powerhouse steeped in history.

Trafford Park was the industrial heartland of the nation, a heritage which I have a personal connection to.

My father was a factory worker at Metropolitan-Vickers and then the three masts, the Trident, visible from 40 kilometres, 200 metres high.

So this becomes a global destination.

Normally, a stadium would take 10 years to build. We half that time. Five years.

How do we do that?

By prefabrication. By using the network of Manchester Ship Canal. Bringing it back to a new life. Shipping in components, 160 of them, Meccano-like.

And then we rebuild the Old Trafford station and that becomes the pivot, the processional way to the stadium, welcoming and at the heart of a new sports-led neighbourhood. It’s walkable.

It’s well served by public transport. It’s endowed by nature. It learns from the past. It creates streets. It’s a mixed-use mini-city.

So what makes a global destination? What makes something so special? It’s teamwork. It’s the best brains. The civic leaders, the owners, the consultants, the engineers, the architects, the fans.

The list is so long. It’s a team effort that is at the heart of the success of this project.

Lord Norman Foster is a world-renowned English architect and designer, who founded the Foster + Partners architecture firm.

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