The British football club Forest Green Rovers is getting a new stadium. The winner of the major international competition was Zaha Hadid Architects, whose entry was a stadium built almost entirely of wood. In phase 1, the stadium will have capacity for 5,000 spectators, with the option of expanding this to 10,000 seats when the club reaches the higher leagues.
Almost all of the stadium, from the structural frame and the roof brackets to the screen that clads the exterior, will be sourced from sustainably managed forests. The design of the load-bearing structure allows even the stands and the floor components to be made of wood. The roof will be clad in a thin transparent membrane that allows enough light through to keep the grass pitch healthy. The club calculates that their new arena will have the lowest carbon footprint of any football stadium in the world.
