West Ham United London Stadium issue highlighted by Everton Stadium architect in interview
The architect of the new Everton Stadium has pointed out a problem with West Ham United’s London Stadium he wanted to avoid.
Construction of the 52,000-seater stadium in Bramley-Moore Dock is well underway with the Toffees hoping to move into their new home for the 2024-25 season.
Dan Meis, the architect, was keen to point out that they went a long way to make sure the fans were still close to the pitch, unlike at the London Stadium which was converted from an Athletics venue.
“Something that the fans really cared about here was that it’s not a bowl,” he said to the Liverpool Echo. “We use the word bowl as a term in architecture as a seating bowl but the fans were worried that it was a round shape, like what West Ham have had to deal with, but we knew here the stands were going to be parallel to the pitch.”
Missing the point
Every West Ham wants the stands to be closer to the pitch much like it was at the Boleyn Ground but they also have the common sense to realise those changes can’t be made quickly.
The Irons had to wait for the London 2012 Olympics to be done before having any kind of chance to start the move-in process and it will take decades to bring everything together fully with work unable to go on during the season to a great extent.
Obviously, Meis had a clean slate to work with and was able to come up with a design more conducive to football and he is understandably keen to show off his grand work.
But if the Hammers had their own architect building a new ground, they would have done the same and made it even bigger.
The London Stadium still towers over the Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium in terms of capacity with 66,000 able to cram into the ground at its peak.