All-wood football stadium in UK

In a ‘world first’, a new football stadium in the United Kingdom is to be built almost entirely of wood. Following an international competition, the Forest Green Rovers club has selected the winning design for its new football stadium in Stroud, Gloucestershire (Western England).

Forest Green Rovers announced the competition in March this year, and quickly received over 50 entries from around the world, including Britain, Sweden, Germany, France and the United States. In May, the club shortlisted nine entries and gave them two months to work their concepts, which were reviewed in August, leading to the selection of two finalists. The finalists were given another two months to take their concepts further, including a scale model. The competition is now over, and the winning design comes from Zaha Hadid Architects.

Zaha Hadid Architects have designed one of the stadiums for the 2022 World Cup, and now one for Forest Green. The really standout thing about this stadium is that it’s going to be almost entirely made of wood – the first time that will have been done anywhere in the world. Jim Heverin, director at Zaha Hadid Architects said that the design of the new stadium retains and enhances the existing meadow landscape of the site.