Here's how the West Stand at Oakwell could look…

By better exec boxes I meant the ones with the outside seats to savour the atmosphere .
Also players tunnel needs to be wider also if corner is not gonna compliment ponte end then a twin type of stand would be better ala corner of east/ponte .

 

If capacity isn’t increased then it’s a NON STARTER.
It should also be squared with the other stands which means pushing the road back into a small part of the school grounds.
And the roof needs to be same height and aligned with the Pontefract Road stand so it sweeps around filling the gap between the stands on that side.

 

As a total lay person, that looks very impressive to me.

In very rough ballpark terms, what would something like that cost to build?

 

I think it looks great - but.... it needs to keep the capacity the same or increase it.

We can’t have a sub-20k capacity at Oakwell as if we are successful, in higher leagues, we will need it.

 

The best way of increasing non-matchday revenue is to extend over from the rear of the East Stand Executive floor and go over car-park. Use supporting columns to create a large conference and entertainment suite at the 2nd level.

I’ve attended many functions and auctions at Huddersfield’s JS stadium, and this is how they did it. Works well and doesn’t block parking below.

Auctions, Parties, conferences, Weddings and trade shows etc.

The Ricoh Arena is an excellent example of how well it works - (although we would do it on a smaller scale).

That’s the best way of doing it.

However, I don’t believe the new owners have actually progressed their ownership details of the ground so it’s all fairly unlikely currently.

 

We don't want to be decreasing our capacity as that would make us look small fry. We want the seats there for if we get to where we want to be, so when we get there we don't have to sort it, as it's already been sorted. Not a fan of the one tier for sides of the pitch and it doesn't look to have that many more rows than the stand we got at Accrington. Corporate boxes need balconies to watch the game outside but in the privacy of your group. We missed out with this when we built the east stand. It should be a similar height to the two stands it's between, so it protects better from the elements both the pitch and the fans. The roof doesn't look long enough to avoid a soaking. We'd want the team to start coming back out there so we have more of a home advantage for our players that come out to away noise. Would look at having electronic scoreboards to bump advertising revenue.

 

It looks great! Really looks unique and keeps some of the character of the original.

I'd personally like to see slightly more seats though. I've always thought that if the west stand got redeveloped I'd like the height of it all to be raised up to make it more imposing.

Tunnel in the middle is essential, so changing rooms etc needed. The idea that somebody else mentioned of the dugouts being included in the stand is a great shout.

 

That looks brilliant hope the club look into it and make it happen then ground completed keeping atmosphere in

 

Looks great. I’ve got to the stage where I no longer have any affection for the West Stand.

I do agree that a balcony for the hospitality area would be desirable.

Are you able to provide a rough idea of costs?

Also, aren’t there some issues with the practicalities of construction without closing the road?

 

I think the OP recognises the need to upgrade the facilities whilst minimising the costs.

 

Afraid I disagree entirely. The west stand should be a feature stand, and maintain its current profile. Ideally I'd say that the upper tier should be dedicated to providing accessible seating and wheelchair spaces. Should safe standing be introduced then that should be in place for the lower tier. Any expansion in terms of executive facilities should be implemented by extending the east stand over the ponty end.

 

There is currently a bar and restaurant at Oakwell... said restaurant cancelled my works Christmas party, as it wasn’t full enough on December 14th... so why would another bring in money? Would it bring in enough to cover the cost of a new stand?

Do we need more corporate boxes? Does anyone know how busy the current ones are? If we really are looking to improve, in my opinion we need more seats.... and a couple o players.

 

Again no it doesn't mean moving the road

 

Very short term planning though is that imo

 

Where is the restaurant and how do I book a meal? I know we have an executive box which doubles as a function room that is apparently available to hire but I didn't know about the bar or restaurant that we have and neither the official site nor Google have helped me find one either?

 

Now that's cool as ****

 

Its too low, we need to increase the acoustics in the ground, they're lost over the open expanse that is the West Stand.

Unfortunately l dropped out of my architecture degree....

 

Thanks everyone for comments, its great to get a discussion going about ideas. Again the whole idea of this is to just get people talking about it and show the potential that something like this can have.

In answer to a few points:

"Have you sent the design to the club?”
Yes I sent the document to the club a couple of weeks ago, but didn’t get a response, so the timing may not have been ideal.


"I would also like the teams to come out of the tunnel so that could be adjusted.”
I agree with this, I think it would be great to go back to the routes of coming out of a central tunnel. It would mean moving a lot of the current facilities around, which I just didn’t incorporate into this design.


"Also, is that a 5 a side pitch?”
Yes the idea is to create a better pre game and post game facility for kids. It creates a playing space within the ground itself. Although the club have plenty of other playing spaces around the academy, I don’t think that they are connected to the stadium well enough to be used on game day.


"I like the concept, but don’t see the point in a new stand if the capacity is not increased.”
We struggle to fill half of the ground even when playing well. Covering the lower tier makes all these seats become available to be used. With the infill of the corner and a smaller second tier the reduction is actually quite minimal. There could however be potential to do something similar to what Brighton and Cardiff did and make a structure that allows for bigger second tier to be put in at a later stage if the club does need to expand the capacity.


"Corporate boxes need balconies to watch the game outside but in the privacy of your group.”
"Do we need more corporate boxes?”
The proposed glazed areas aren’t actually specified as corporate boxes. These spaces seen as being 'boxes' are actually intended to be flexible spaces for different uses. Maybe the club can use the spaces for classrooms for the academy. Maybe the whole space can be used for artist studios, or rentable spaces for schools and colleges. These spaces may not actually be used on match days at all.


"The idea that somebody else mentioned of the dugouts being included in the stand is a great shout.”
Yes I agree, I think that would be a good idea to include in the design.


"There is currently a bar and restaurant at Oakwell... said restaurant cancelled my works Christmas party, as it wasn’t full enough on December 14th... so why would another bring in money? Would it bring in enough to cover the cost of a new stand?”
The idea of introducing different uses of offices, classrooms, maybe a new ticket office, clubshop, means that the building will be busier. It will see used during the day rather than just on match days. The bar/restaurant in the corner means that people can use this for dinner/tea. The location also means that if you have to pop into the club and pick up tickets or pop into the club shop, then there’s the possibility to also have a coffee, maybe speak to other fans, whilst getting a different view of the ground.


There’s also been quite a lot of feedback on Facebook if anyone hasn’t yet seen it on there.