The Challenge
During the 1990's Arsenal Football Club identified the requirement for a new football stadium to replace their existing one.  This decision was based on the need to generate additional revenue from football events enabling Arsenal to compete on a financial basis with the largest teams in Europe and also to provide a state of the art facilities for their millions of fans.  The 60,000 seat capacity,  104,000m2 (GIFA) stadium was designed by leading sports architect HOK Sport.

ARCADIS AYH plc were appointed initially as Project and Cost Managers for the £200m new stadium.  Our role rapidly expanded, as the requirement to relocate some 80 businesses from the stadium site became apparent.  This in turn brought about opportunities for cross funding through commercial and residential developments on a number of other sites throughout Islington.  Ultimately providing in excess of 2,500 new homes including the redevelopment of their existing Highbury Stadium a new waste and recycling centre for the Islington Borough.

The Approach
ARCADIS AYH plc has provided its core services on all aspects of the project from inception, as well as providing key strategic advice to Arsenal during the extremely challenging planning and funding phases.  During construction, ARCADIS AYH plc has also been responsible for incorporating significant additional requirements into the scheme that Arsenal identified without extending the project completion date.

The Result
Arsenal's new stadium was delivered for the start of the 2006/07 football season two weeks ahead of schedule and on budget.  The building comprises:
 
60,000 seats with unobstructed views.
Seated dining for 7,000 spectators
150 executive boxes
Fully automated access control
60,000ft2 Arsenal headquarter building