The New Wembley Stadium

The new Wembley Stadium opened to the public on 9 March 2007. The all-seat stadium is owned by the Football Association (FA) and operated by its subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Ltd (WNSL). Construction of the new Wembley Stadium, which began in October 2002, was at times controversial. The aim of the project was to design and build a state-of-the-art national stadium, unlike any other in the world, which would be the home of English football and to host large events such as Cup Finals, music events and athletics.

The stadium, with a retractable roof and a 135m high arch, visible throughout London, stands as an association football venue in Wembley Park in London. With 90,000 seats it is the largest stadium to have every seat under cover. The stadium is the homeground for international matches of the England national football team and the English domestic cup finals. The stadium hosted the FA Cup, Rugby League Challenge Cup, National Football League and FA Community Shield. The stadium also hosted the 2007 and 2008 Race of Champions. Apart from sporting events, the stadium also played host to music concerts of George Michael, Madonna, Coldplay, Mettalica,U2, Oasis and charity music shows including Concert for Diana and Live Earth.

The old Wembley Stadium

The old Wembley Stadium, with its much loved twin towers stood tall as a standing memory of British sporting history until it was closed in 2000, before being demolished in September 2002. The venue was originally developed as the main attraction of the 1924 British Empire Exhibition.

Construction work of old Wembley Stadium began in January 1922 and the stadium was inaugurated on 23 April 1923. Architects Sir John Simpson and Maxwell Ayerton designed the stadium, which had a capacity of 127,000.

FA Cup finals between 1923 and 2000 and League Cup finals between 1967 and 2000 along with seven European finals were held at the ground. The old Wembley stadium witnessed its home team winning the FIFA World Cup in 1966.

Wembley design and architecture

The design (50-year design life) of the new stadium is both functional and architecturally significant. Sir Norman Foster designed the arch and the roof structure, with the remainder of the stadium being designed by architects Foster and Partners and Populous (formerly known as HOK Sport).

The stadium is designed like a bowl and its unique features include retractable roof panels and the arch. These were developed in response to the particular requirements of the stadium, one of which was the need for a high-quality grass pitch in order to achieve UEFA five-star stadium status. By using retractable roof panels, which retract to the south, it allows as much daylight and ventilation to reach pitch level as possible. The arch itself is not just a cosmetic feature; it supports the north roof and a sizeable area of the south roof.

The arch and the roof

The arch was designed to give the appearance of solidity without incurring the penalty of high wind loads. The arch has a lattice form consisting of 41 steel rings (diaphragms) connected by spiralling tubular chords and is formed of 13 modules with two tapering end sections. The arch (7.4m in diameter at the base and weighing 1,750t) tapers at its ends and is supported on 70t hinges which are in turn supported on concrete bases founded on piles 35m deep.

Inclined from the vertical, the arch is held in position by a series of forestay and backstay cables tied to the main stadium structure. The leading edge of the north roof is in turn suspended from the arch by the forestay cables. Cables from the arch are arranged in a diagonal pattern to help spread loads to control in-plane bending while also providing out-of-plane restraint to resist buckling. The arch structure is 133m in height, with a span of 315m and is the longest single-span roof structure in the world.

The 50,000m² roof is essential to the operation of the stadium as a sporting and concert venue. Weighing some 7,000t, the roof has a number of retractable edge sections that can be manoeuvred to allow direct sunlight to reach all parts of the grass pitch (to allow the pitch to achieve top quality). If necessary (e.g. during inclement weather), the roof can be retracted in around 15 minutes to cover every seat inside.

The arch at a 68° tilt from the horizontal supports 5,000t of the roof structure. With its load-bearing capabilities, the arch allowed designers to eliminate the need for columns within the interior, which means that every stadium seat has an unobstructed view of the pitch. 

The arch fulfils another function aside from supporting the majority of the roof. It also provides a "beacon" for the stadium, illuminating the north-west London sky on match days. The designer's vision for the arch was a tube of light that would hover over the stadium at night creating an iconic statement.

To achieve this effect, 258 metal halide floodlights were mounted within the arch to illuminate the internal faces of the lattice and the structural rings that form its structure.

Because the arch is lit from within, the outer faces remain dark and increase the dramatic effect by adding depth and contrast and giving the appearance that the light is trapped within the lattice structure. The arch also has an aircraft safety light at the top.

Constructing and raising the arch

Construction of the arch began in 2003; it was fabricated on-site using steel modules fabricated by steel subcontractor Cleveland Bridge. Cleveland Bridge left the project shortly after over some serious contractual difficulties with the main contractor Multiplex.

The arch was lifted in four key stages in June 2004 and temporarily supported on five restraining cables. Structural engineers from the Mott Stadium Consortium worked closely with Multiplex and the newly appointed steelwork subcontractor Hollandia to transfer the load, in excess of 1,300t, to the permanent cable net and eyebrow catenary cable. The final positioning of the arch to 112° was completed at the end of 2005, with the arch being rotated to take up the full roof load.