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‘The Peoples’ Project’ is Everton FC’s new home on Liverpool’s Bramley-Moore Dock. BDP Pattern’s Jon-Scott Kohli explains how the new stadium delivers benefits to the community well beyond the touchline.
Improvements to stadium infrastructure play a vital role in a team’s fortune on and off the field. European football clubs like Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and Arsenal have all enjoyed greater success soon after moving into their new stadiums. Income from ticket sales, match-day spending, and better broadcast revenues improve profitability allowing clubs to buy better players and ultimately drive results. Those same improvements that enable better team performance can also bring about economic and social benefits beyond the remit of football.
Bramley-Moore Dock was once part of Liverpool’s thriving shipping port but stood locked off and underutilised for decades. Now, its historic features have a new lease of life as the inspiration and foundation for Everton’s emerging stadium. Drawing on the ‘brick box’ warehouse typology of neighbouring buildings like the Tobacco Warehouse and Titanic Hotel, the venue embraces the industrial heritage of the area while reimagining a future for this part of Liverpool.
By kickstarting the process of regeneration in the Liverpool docklands, the project will contribute a £1bn boost to the region’s economy and create up to 15,000 jobs. It will attract an impressive 1.4m visitors each year, reaping the benefits of tourism and enhancing the city’s reputation. The Mersey River Walk through the Liverpool Waters development will make for a scenic matchday travel route concluding at the public space around the stadium. For the first time in its history, this spectacular riverside site will be open to the public for all to enjoy.
Positioned between waterways, the natural environment forms a stunning backdrop to the stadium. The design responds to this special setting, with the elevated west terrace plaza providing sweeping views to the Wirral, the River Mersey and the Irish Sea beyond. From the south balcony in the home stand, Evertonians will have stunning views back to central Liverpool.
Everton F.C. Stadium
Just as the city and landscape are celebrated in the stadium’s architecture, sustainability and environmental considerations underpin all aspects of its design. Efficient building systems reduce the overall use of water and energy, while PV panels on the roof generate renewable energy. Modern methods of construction minimise carbon emissions and waste, with much of the building manufactured in national factories and delivered to the site for onsite assembly. This drives savings in time and energy that are reinforced by the ambitious targets to reuse 95% of all materials onsite.
The stadium maintains and celebrates many of its original heritage assets, from restored railway lines, mooring posts, cobbles, and capstans to the restoration of a 138-year-old Grade II listed Hydraulic Engine House. Our design for Everton FC demonstrates the benefits of adaptive reuse of an existing site. It harnesses the rich cultural past of the Bramley-Moore Dock to provide a world-class home for one of the Premier League’s most storied teams.