TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM
hite Hart Lane stood as the home
of English Premier League soccer
club Tottenham Hotspur from 1899
to 2017. It was interwoven into the
fabric of both the fans and the north
London area’s inhabitants, so the task of tearing it down
and replacing it was not just one fraught with financial
headaches and logistical bureaucracy, but one that
struck at the heart of its surrounding community.
Tottenham Hotspur first announced it would build
a new stadium back in 2008, but numerous planning
disputes and roadblocks meant that construction didn’t
commence until 2015. What happened after that, is one
of the most storied stadium builds in recent history.
Over budget, massively delayed, and riddled with
political in-fighting, when the club finally opened
on April 3, 2019, with its gleaming concourses,
atmospheric bowl, and industry-defining innovation,
it’s hard to believe such struggles ever took place.
But Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium isn’t just
a showcase of the latest technology and engineering
feats, it serves to carry on the legacy of White Hart
Lane and its surrounding community.
Tottenham has been one of the most chronically
under-funded boroughs in London for many years,
so the club’s owners and the stadium’s architect,
Populous, had to ensure the resulting structure didn’t
alienate those who earn their livelihoods and reside
in the surrounding area, but bring them closer together.
Democratic design
The original submitted plans of the new stadium were
opposed by English Heritage due to the fact a number
of listed buildings would need to be demolished, while
disagreements between the site’s surrounding business
owners meant the land required to expand was not
made available.
Then, in the summer of 2011, London experienced
a series of riots, the most ferocious of which occurred
in the Tottenham area. But rather than delaying
proceedings further, it acted as a catalyst for the club
and stadium’s developers to make a change for good.
“Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy’s, aspirations
were to make the best stadium in the UK and although
the plans that had already in place were perfectly fine,
they didn’t quite live up to ambitions of everyone
involved with Tottenham Hotspur. This had to be a
stadium that made a statement for the area,” explains
Christopher Lee, managing director of Populous, the
architecture firm drafted in to make the vision a reality.
(Above) The new Tottenham
Hotspur Stadium in London,
UK, sits on the expanded site of
its old, now demolished, White
Hart Lane home. Due to its
urban location, both designers
and engineers had to work
under restrictive conditions
16 www.stadia-magazine.com June 2019
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