by The daring design of Manchester United for a new super stadium of 100,000 places would only take five years to build and be the heart of “one of the most exciting projects in the world”, according to the architect Lord Norman Foster.
The Premier League club planned to redevelop the largest club stadium in the country or build a new on a land belonging to an adjacent club.
United has now confirmed that they would continue the new land of 2 billion pounds Sterling as part of a wider regeneration project, with details and conceptual images published Tuesday of what was called “New Trafford Stadium” by the architects.
Foster + Partners’ design includes three striking masts – with two 150 -meter increases and the other reaching 200 meters – and the stadium would be built on 160 prefabricated sections.
Lord Foster, founder and executive president of the architectural firm, said: “It must be one of the most exciting projects in the world today.
“The three masts, the trident, visible 40 kilometers, 200 meters high, it therefore becomes a global destination.
“Normally, a stadium would take 10 years to build. We half of this time at five years. How do we do that? By prefabrication, using the Manchester Ship Canal network, bringing it back to a new life.
“Shipping in components, including 160, like Meccano, then we rebuild the Old Trafford station and it becomes the pivot, the procession path to the stadium – welcoming and at the heart of a new district led by sport.
“He is accessible on foot, it is well served by public transport, he is endowed by nature, he learns from the past, he creates streets. It is a mini-city for mixed use. »»
United would continue to play Old Trafford until the new stadium is ready, Sir Jim Ratcliffe hoping that the striking design would become a tourist destination in the north of England like the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
“It’s not just a new stadium,” said the co -owner. “It’s a little more than a new stadium because it is obvious that the more emblematic or more extraordinary the stadium, the more successful the regeneration scheme.
“I think that a very good example is the Eiffel Tower. Everyone in the world knows the Eiffel Tower and I’m sure there are many people here who have visited the Eiffel Tower. You go to Paris, you stay in a hotel, you spend money.
“We have a billion people in the world following Manchester United and they will all want to visit this stadium.
“You can see the design and take your own opinion on how you think it’s emblematic, but I think everyone is interested in Manchester United – and football – will want to come and visit this stadium.”
How United the project remains uncertain, but Ratcliffe said on the eve of the announcement that they “do not need government funding” for a new stadium.
However, the co -owner stressed that he should be part of a project supported by the government to regenerate the Old Trafford area.
He added: “If the government really takes behind this regeneration program, then we, with the vision of Norman Foster – and Norman in my opinion is the greatest architect in the world – we will build an emblematic football stadium.”
