Aviva Stadium - STW Architects & Populous Passive

House Japan- Key Architecture Irish Pavillion at

Shanghai - OPW Architects Irish Architecture
Awards 2010

SAKSHI B. 1309
 Site Context and Building Exterior The existing stadium site presented many
challenges - being a restricted site in an established residential area
bounded by the River Dodder to the East and bisected by the main Dublin-
Wexford railway line.
In addition there was also the requirement to keep both Lansdowne
Football Club and Wanderers Football Club and their training pitch on the
site.
Space for the redevelopment of the site was created by minor realignment
of the pitch and the creation of a new access podium over the railway line.
This podium allows spectators access the stadium at level 03 via a series of
grand stairs west of the railway line.
The former two rear pitches were also realigned and combined into one
back pitch with a North South orientation.
A new building, housing a shop, the stadiums administrative offices and
Wanderers Football Club, was built beside an extended and refurbished
Lansdowne Football Club clubhouse.
A movement strategy was developed for safely managing the large
numbers of people arriving and leaving the stadium.
This includes a new DART station forecourt, underpasses under the railway
line which allow the level crossing gates to remain closed on match day and
new entrances off Shelbourne Road and Bath Avenue.
The movement strategy also informed the external landscape design, with
paving, planting and signage designed to subtly guide movement.
The initial design concept for the scheme was developed by the design
team at a series of workshops in Dublin and London. The form of the
stadium developed as a response to the site conditions
 The transparent shingled skins
organic form wraps around the
concourses, seating tiers and the
pitch to enclose the atmospheric
cauldron of the seating bowl.

The form allows for the highest

tiers and hence the maximum
number of spectators to be on the
half way lines yet allows the
building to sweep down to a
single tier at the North end
allowing daylight into the
adjacent residential gardens and
opening up the stadium bowl to
the city.
The use of translucent and
transparent polycarbonate for the
external roofing and cladding
allows for maximum light
penetration through the building.
The building skin reflects the light
and the colours of the sky giving
rise to a faade appearance that is
constantly changing.
The curvilinear form reduces the
visual mass and apparent height
of the stadium in its residential
neighbourhood by having no
defined line between wall and
roof.
The transparent shingled skins
organic form wraps around the
concourses, seating tiers and the
pitch to enclose the atmospheric
cauldron of the seating bowl.
 The Aviva is enveloped in a polycarbonate shingled skin with no defined line between wall and roof.
The organic form and the transparency of the external treatment dictated the approach to the internal
planning and design.
Accommodation is held back where possible from the external skin of the building to leave a
continuous circulation around the perimeter of the floorplates.
The main structural curved reinforced concrete blades to the perimeter of the floor plates are
expressed, and individually lit appearing as illuminated ribs at night contrasting with the six cores
rising through the building.
 Materials throughout the
building were selected for
their longevity with attention
given to their quality and
detail.
Particular attention was paid
to the concrete mix, forms
and shutters to produce
beautiful concrete work that
could remain exposed as
elements of the interior
throughout.
Cores with their curved ends
are rendered in a soft grey
render at each level to add
texture.
The concrete frame and the
rendered cores are the
common thread that link all
levels of the building.
These along with the simple
palette of colours and
materials and consistent
detailing throughout result in
a coherent whole that we
hope will serve as a worthy
venue for events both on and
off the pitch.
The overall form of the
stadium is truly site-
responsive. The shape was
derived by reconciling a
series of constraints that vary
all around the stadium with
the aspiration for a free
flowing three dimensional
form.
 Numerous bowlgeometries were
studied and modelled to arrive at
the right balance between the
distribution of seats within the
seating-tiers, the quality of viewing,
and facilities behind each tier whilst
satisfying the site constraints.
The result was the unique bowl that
now characterises the Aviva Stadium
featuring a single tier along the
North Stand, growing to four tiers of
varying heights around the east,
south, and west sides.
The shape of the bowl then forms
the basis for the form of the roof of
the faade envelope.
These were developed as one, in a
manner that the roof and faade are
seamless thereby creating the form
that is already uniquely associated
with Aviva Stadium.
The shape of the bowl, along with
the varying requirements for backof-
house facilities was major factors in
the development of the dramatic
geometry of the frames that support
the floorplates and the tiers.
Major features of the frames are the
inclined, curving concrete blades that
reach out to support the floor-plates
towards their outer extremities.
A massive effort to achieve high
quality concrete took place between
the Design and Construction Teams.
The results of this collaborative effort
can be seen around many of the
spaces.
The carefully chosen mix design also
forms a key component of the palette
of colours adopted throughout the
stadium.
 The Aviva Stadium has a unique structural design with only two columns.
The two columns are designed to transfer the entire forces coming from the
truss, minimising the impact on environment and allowing a stable
structure.
The unique free flowing bowl shape of Aviva was concluded after studying
different geometries.
The single tier on the north grows to four tiers in different heights along the
south, east and west sides. The truss is horseshoe-shaped along the south,
east and west tiers. Conventional tapering concrete super-columns support
the northern tier.
The structure is also supported by spur-trusses and a ring truss which runs
along the perimeter. The primary trusses and ring trusses are spanned by
cantilevering tertiary trusses.
The cantilevered steel roof weighs about 150kg for a square meter. It
reaches 47.65m above the pitch area, rises 203m east to west and dips to
189.9m north to south.

The primary roof structure includes a two part roof designfeaturing an innovative horseshoe truss that spans around the East, South and West tiers, connecting
to a more conventional and dependent structure supporting the North stand.
The horseshoe-truss is supported at the North end by a pair of tapering concrete super-columns, and is then supported by a series of spur-trusses that run from
the horse-shoe truss back to the rear of the tiers, connecting to a ring truss that runs around the perimeter of the stadium.
Tertiary trusses then span between the primary truss and the ring truss, and then cantilever up to 15m beyond the primary truss to create a slim-line leading edge
of the roof.
The roof skin comprises two main types of polycarbonate the major difference between them being the degree of opacity thus providing a graded type of
pitch-shadow.
 SUSTAINABLE ASPECTS OF THE DESIGN
Minimising the impact of the stadium on the environment was uppermost in the minds of the design team and this principle was integral
to the philosophy behind the project.
During construction the demolished structures were broken up for use as hardcore and sub-bases for the new ones.
Blast furnace waste slag was used in the concrete mix throughout to minimize the amount of cement and thereby reduce the energy in
concrete production.
The old top soil was stripped, stored and reused for the new pitch.
Rainwater gathered from the roof is stored in the basement and used to irrigate the pitches, waterless urinals are used throughout the
building to reduce demand on drinking water.
Each generator is fitted with large radiators and heat exchangers that pre-heat water for use in the bathrooms and kitchens and, when
necessary, for the under pitch heating system.
 Sophisticated acoustic panelling and whisper quiet chilling fan technology were used to ensure the stadium would have a minimal impact on
background noise very important given its location.
The glass and polycarbonate skin allow maximum natural daylight into the building, minimizing the need for artificial lighting during daylight
hours.
Lighting is controlled centrally, and only areas that are occupied are lit.
Other elements of the services design include intelligent controls to ensure power consuming systems are only operating when required for
example escalators will only run when people are using them and fans and pumps in the heating and ventilation systems will only run at the
rate that is required.
The client has supported the design team approach throughout, has continued this philosophy into the operational management of the
building and is actively working towards achieving BS 8901 certification.
 The ingenuity of the engineering partnered with the subtleties of the architectural design have created unique
solutions which solve nearly all the challenges.
The limitations on the stadium height with a very low northwest elevation and a somewhat lower south-east one
has dictated an irregular framework to the main structure with huge trusses resting on only two columns at the
north end of the arena.
These are constrained by horizontal trusses, connected to and stabilised by the massive concrete structure of the
stands.
The outer transparent screen creates a coherent but ever changing whole, depending on your distance from the
stadium; the light and the view point, dissolving close up, as it opens up views of the interior structure.
The low west end, when viewed from key points such as the gasholder, exposes the necessarily distorted nature
of the main truss. Most distant external views are spectacular.