Forest Green Rovers football stadium
On 3 November 2016, Forest Green Rovers announced that Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) had won the competition to design its new 5,000-seat football stadium in Stroud.
[Image courtesy architects/ Zaha Hadid Architects]
The carbon neutral stadium will be the centrepiece of a £100m Eco Park in Gloucester. It will be made largely using timber and so will have very low embodied carbon. It is thought this is the first timber football stadium anywhere in the world.
Dale Vince, Ecotricity founder and Forest Green Rovers chairman suggested that three quarters of the lifetime carbon impact of stadiums comes from their building materials, and that the ZHA scheme will have the lowest embodied carbon of any stadium in the world.
Ecotricity’s 100 acre site will also include state-of-the-art sporting facilities, a sports science hub, a green technology business park and a nature reserve. It will aim to be carbon neutral or carbon negative, and will include on-site renewable energy generation.
Dale Vince said, “We’re thrilled with the concept and the amount of thought Zaha Hadid Architects put into their design – their experience of stadia design and their ability to put environmental issues at the heart of what they do really stood out… we’ll be going further than anyone has done before – this really will be the greenest football stadium in the world.”
Jim Heverin, Director at ZHA, said: “Embodying low carbon construction methods and operational processes, it will be the first all timber football stadium with almost every element made of sustainably sourced timber including its structure, roof cantilevers and louvered cladding. As a building material, timber is highly durable, recyclable and beautiful. The proximity of the stadium’s structural elements to each other has also been determined to enable the seating terraces and floor slab to be made from timber. In most other stadiums, these elements are concrete or steel.”
[Image courtesy architects/ Zaha Hadid Architects]
However, plans for the green technology business park were later dropped, and in June 2019, Stroud District Council voted against granting the proposals planning permission.
A revised design was granted planning permission in December 2019.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Featured articles and news
Future Homes Standard Essentials launched
Future Homes Hub launches new campaign to help the homebuilding sector prepare for the implementation of new building standards.
Building Safety recap February, 2026
Our regular run-down of key building safety related events of the month.
Planning reform: draft NPPF and industry responses.
Last chance to comment on proposed changes to the NPPF.
A Regency palace of colour and sensation. Book review.
Delayed, derailed and devalued
How the UK’s planning crisis is undermining British manufacturing.
How much does it cost to build a house?
A brief run down of key considerations from a London based practice.
The need for a National construction careers campaign
Highlighted by CIOB to cut unemployment, reduce skills gap and deliver on housing and infrastructure ambitions.
AI-Driven automation; reducing time, enhancing compliance
Sustainability; not just compliance but rethinking design, material selection, and the supply chains to support them.
Climate Resilience and Adaptation In the Built Environment
New CIOB Technical Information Sheet by Colin Booth, Professor of Smart and Sustainable Infrastructure.
Turning Enquiries into Profitable Construction Projects
Founder of Develop Coaching and author of Building Your Future; Greg Wilkes shares his insights.
IHBC Signpost: Poetry from concrete
Scotland’s fascinating historic concrete and brutalist architecture with the Engine Shed.
Demonstrating that apprenticeships work for business, people and Scotland’s economy.
Scottish parents prioritise construction and apprenticeships
CIOB data released for Scottish Apprenticeship Week shows construction as top potential career path.
From a Green to a White Paper and the proposal of a General Safety Requirement for construction products.
Creativity, conservation and craft at Barley Studio. Book review.
The challenge as PFI agreements come to an end
How construction deals with inherited assets built under long-term contracts.
Skills plan for engineering and building services
Comprehensive industry report highlights persistent skills challenges across the sector.
Choosing the right design team for a D&B Contract
An architect explains the nature and needs of working within this common procurement route.
Statement from the Interim Chief Construction Advisor
Thouria Istephan; Architect and inquiry panel member outlines ongoing work, priorities and next steps.