Chelsea launches design contest for Herzog & de Meuron gates
23 February 2016 | By
Elizabeth Hopkirk
Chelsea FC has launched an open design competition for a set of gates that would mark the entrance to the club’s Herzog & de Meuron-designed stadium.
The three-round contest will see a shortlist of six announced on April 15 and two finalists presented to the crowd at the last home match of the 2015/16 season. The winner will be chosen live in the stadium.
Chelsea commissioned Herzog & de Meuron and local practice Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands to design a 60,000-seat stadium on the exact footprint of the existing Stamford Bridge ground. The gothic-influenced brick design is currently going through planning.
It proposes expanding the historic Stamford bridge which carries Fulham Road over a railway line, linking the main road directly to the new east stand.
As part of this Hammersmith & Fulham council asked the club to create a landmark set of gates at the new approach to the stadium.
In a statement Chelsea said: “Respecting the heritage of the site, we are following the great London tradition of public design competitions for epic city structures, for example from Tower Bridge in 1876 to the Royal Parks competition for gates to Hyde Park today. So the gates for Stamford Bridge will be designed by public competition, open to everyone.”
The brief specifies robust, working gates which should be 15m wide and between 3 and 7m high. They do not have to be symmetrical but should be inspired by the history of the club, the site and the wider district, as well as by the design of the new stadium.
The closing date for stage one is March 24. Entries should be submitted
here.