As we had reported earlier Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich has plans of refurbishing the Blues’ home stadium Stamford Bridge and increase the capacity to 60,000 seats.
The design of the new four new stands will not be similar to that of the modern day football stadiums. Rather inspiration will be taken from the buttresses, pillars and gothic architecture of Westminster Abbey.
Abramovich is planning to acquire the services of top quality professionals for the work. The team might consist of a master plan architect (Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands), stadium architect (Herzog & De Meuron), strategic planners (Aecom), railways and transportation (WSP) and structural engineers (Schlaich Bergermann & Partner) to work on the plan.
The Blues hope to begin work on Stamford Bridge – work which will involve extensive demolition and reconstruction – at the end of this season.
The Blues fans were given a sneak peak of a dummy model of the new stadium and it seems the fans have loved the dream project of their owner.
Grenville-Fox, from Battersea, a Chelsea fan was quoted: “I love it, I think it’s great. It’s been presented really well. It’s a nice design that’s taken into consideration a lot of the concerns.
“It’s not boring like Arsenal’s (Emirates) stadium. It has an iconic design a lot like the Bird’s Nest in Beijing.”
Chuck Crampton, from Richmond, another Chelsea loyalist: “It’s very positive, they seem to have thought about most of the elements and the fans and residents. It’s a very unusual design.”
Peter Higgins, from Richmond, said: “It looks very civic, it’s not just an industrial stadium. This seems to be designed with the community in mind and it has architectural value too.”
Andre Decort, from Knightsbridge, said: “It’s an untypical stadium design but well done given the constraints on space. It seems very well designed and a lot of planning has gone into it.”
And Mark Bubien added: “I like it, I really do. I was expecting something a lot more of a modern looking, but I like what they’ve done, it’s so different.”