Landscape & Amenity
October 2020 The change of seasons
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The changing face of football stadium developments The opening of the 62,000-capacity Tottenham Hotspur stadium in 2019 pushed new boundaries for football stadiums, with the new ground offering a number of unique and interesting features. As well as featuring the world’s first dividing, retractable football pitch and the UK’s largest single-tier stand, the £1 billion stadium also became home to Europe’s longest bar and even a microbrewery, showing that nowadays stadiums are looking to cater to more than just their fan’s footballing appetite. Construction industry analysts Glenigan have taken an indepth look at the ways in which football is changing its approach to the modern venue. In many cases, clubs choose to develop their existing stadiums to offer increased capacity and additional/improved facilities, in order to improve profitability.
Liverpool Football Club are choosing to extend rather than build a new ground. The £60 million extension to the Anfield Road stand will provide an additional 4,800 seats, bringing the overall capacity up to 61,000. In several cases, such as Crystal Palace’s £100 million Selhurst Park development this will also enable clubs to meet UEFA regulations around pitch sizes, and make them eligible to host tournament football. Hospitality is becoming an exceptionally lucrative area for football clubs. “People follow the American model, where hospitality is playing a big part,” says Davendra Dabasia, director for major programmes and infrastructure at Mace. Hospitality has been a particularly successful way of generating revenue at Wembley, the Emirates Stadium and the Etihad Stadium.
Fulham Football Club are an example who chose this path. The Riverside Development at Craven Cottage is currently on-going and due to complete on-site in 2021. The £97 million extension is due to increase capacity at Craven Cottage to 29,600 as well as provide state-of-the-art concourses and hospitality lounges on matchdays. Despite many clubs abandoning traditional plans to build new stadiums, some clubs are still choosing to do so. Most notably is the new Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium, the new 52,000 capacity ground home to Everton Football Club. Laing O’Rourke is the preferred bidder on the £500 million project, who have submitted detailed planning. Architects described its brick and steel construction as appearing to have “risen from the dock” in tribute to the city’s maritime history. Away from the Premier League, other clubs are also preparing to build new stadiums, one with
Natural Turf Management an environmental focus. Forest Green Rovers have received outline planning consent for a new stadium made entirely out of wood. The £100 million, 5,000-capacity ground follows the club being officially recognised as the world’s first vegan football club in 2017. Stadiums are increasingly being developed to include residential units. The number of both approvals and submissions for £10 million or more stadium developments, which
include residential units, was at its highest level between 2015-19, according to Glenigan data. The new £62 million Brentford Community Stadium development (Project ID: 02419209), soon to be completed on-site, comprises 910 residential units. This new 17,250 capacity stadium will be home to both Brentford FC and London Irish RFC.
The products & services you need
Pages 13-17
Glenigan
Kubota upgrades its popular G-Series line-up Building on its reputation for developing innovative solutions for customers in the Groundcare market, Kubota is pleased to announce the launch of its newly updated and popular G-Series range of mowers.
G261, both available with low and high dump grass collectors. These models have eyecatching developments such as a new hydrostatic transmission (HST) designed to increase traction and grip.
These mowers have been specially developed to meet the professional groundcare needs of key customer segments such as councils, contractors and large property owners. There are two models in the new G-Series line-up, G231 and
The mowers are also equipped with powerful Kubota engines offering 23hp and 26hp, as well as an electromagnetic PTO clutch which replaces the hydraulic PTO, offering a more positive drive for consistent cutting performance.
Additionally, users of these new cutting-edge models will benefit from improved output, increased speed and greater comfort. G-Series mowers have been engineered to run faster and deliver improved mowing performance; saving time, money and effort for customers. The enhanced performance and adaptability of Kubota’s new G-Series also enables operators to work more efficiently across various types of terrain which can pose a multitude of challenges.
Line Marking How technology is shaping new developments
Pages 18-20
Kubota
‘Turned’ out nice again Only a Profihopper has two augers to maximise work rates
Scarify Collect
The more than adequate power is provided by engines that are already Stage V Exhaust emission compliant and require no AdBlue.
Mulch Roll
Exhaust emission compliant
The two augers provide blockagefree collection and maximum compaction
7 Groundkeeper
HorseHopper
Profihopper 1250
Profihopper 1500
And it’s that flexibility that sets the Profihopper apart from the crowd. The sharpened wing blades on the horizontal SmartCut rotor cleanly cut and shred the grass before conveying it via the cross auger on to that unique second vertical auger to be packed into the collection hopper - meaning less time emptying and more time mowing. To add to that versatility, the sward is rolled after cutting and scarifying comes as standard.
Mow
STAGE V
Wet or dry grass, long or short, collect or mulch, the PH 1250 and PH 1500 models take it all in their stride.
Don’t compromise - choose the machine that comes with more compaction built-in for maximum work rates and less emptying. Contact the Amazone Team on: 01302 755 725.
www.amazone.co.uk