Green Point Stadium

Infobox Stadium
stadium_name = Green Point Stadium
nick_name =


location = Cape Town, South Africa
coordinates =
Construction = 26 March 2007 - 14 December 2009
owner = City of Cape Town
operator = SAIL/Stade de France
surface = Grass
Constructor = Murray and Roberts/ WBHO
construction_cost = R2.85 billion
architect = GMP Architects, Louis Karol Architects, Point Architects
former_names =
nicknames = The mothership
tenants = To be confirmed
seating_capacity =
69,070 (FIFA) Overlay 55,000 (Legacy) (football)



dimensions = 290m x 265 m x 48m

The Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa is a stadium under construction for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.cite web|url=http://www.fifa.com/en/comp/FWC/tournament/0,6416,FWC-2010-30,00.html|title=Venues - Cape Town|publisher=FIFA|accessdate=2007-05-26] During the planning stage it was referred to by some as the "African Renaissance Stadium".

The stadium and the World Cup

The stadium is to be located in Green Point, between Signal Hill and the Atlantic Ocean, close to the Cape Town city centre and to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, a popular tourist and shopping venue. The stadium will have a capacity of 68,000. [cite web|url=http://www.cup2010.info/stadiums/CapeTown/AFricanRenaissanceStadium.html|title=African Renaissance Stadium|accessdate=2007-05-26] The stadium will be connected to the waterfront by a new road connection, Granger Bay Boulevard, and will be surrounded by a 60 hectare urban park.

In the World Cup, it will host five first round matches, one second round, one quarter-final and one semi-final.cite web|url=http://www.southafrica.info/2010/2010-faq.htm|title=SA 2010: frequent questions|publisher=southafrica.info|accessdate=2007-05-26]

Previous stadium

The stadium replaces an 18,000 seat stadium of the same name.

The previous stadium, which was demolished in 2007, was a multi-purpose stadium used mainly for football matches, and was the home ground of Santos Football Club and Ajax Cape Town at different points. It also hosted music concerts including Michael Jackson, U2, Metallica, Paul Simon, and the 2003 46664 Concert for the benefit of AIDS victims.

tadium design

The stadium will contain 68,000 seats for the World Cup. 55,000 Seats will remainpermanent and 15,000 modular seats will be re-used in the deconstruction of the existingGreen Point Stadium and other social investment opportunities, leaving opportunities forcorporate suites to be retrofitted.

The stadium architecture focuses on the exterior appearance as well as on the user experience for the visitor once inside the stadium bowl. The exterior appearance is largely defined by a sweeping silhouette, not to be in competition with the horizontal datum line of Table Mountain, and the façade, made of a stretched fibre-glass mesh and designed as an articulated surface that makes the building appear almost scaleless.

The roof is designed as suspended roof plane. It focuses attention downwards onto theplaying field. At the same time, the underside of the roof surface, hovering above thespectators, operates in a way similar to the façade. The translucent mesh skin under thesteel cable and truss structure will act as a luminous disc during days of sunlight and willtransmit the colour and atmosphere of the day into the stadium interior. The double skindesign of the roof further makes it possible to accommodate (unsightly) services therein and,for example, avoid the use of pylons for the floodlighting. It fulfils an important function as faras noise attenuation is concerned. The roof structure is designed as an acoustic “body” withits own internal volume. The principle of utilising the air space inside the body of the roof as anoise buffer is one of the compelling simple and active design principles applied to thestadium. The key to this principle is the requirement that the “inner” (lower) and “outer”(upper) surface of the roof structure must have different densities and therefore displaydifferent acoustic performance characteristics.

The current design foresees and ETFE (fibreglass-like) cloth membrane, which is partlypermeable. This “breathing” softer inner skin disperses sound waves and, since it is not ahard surface, absorbs sound into the body of the roof. The outer (top) skin is currentlydesigned and budgeted as a fixed glass skin, which provides a hard resonant surface whichreflects sound waves back into the body of the roof. Through the sloping surface of the roof,sound waves are diffracted back against the soft inner skin membrane, where they are furtherdispersed.

The stadium is organized into six principal levels, broadly containing the following functionsand zones:

• Level 0Sports team rooms, VVIP and VIP reception, lowest parking level, medical and policefacilities, waste collection and compaction.

• Level 1Media areas, TV and radio studios, FIFA offices and sports event staff offices, andupper parking level.

• Level 2: Public PlazaMain concourse pedestrian access down to lowest tier and up to second tier, disabledperson’s seating, fan shop, VIP welcome zone, concession stands.

• Level 3Lower level of business club, multi-purpose hall, security and police offices, operator’sstorage spaces, smaller food kitchens.

• Level 4Upper level of business club, larger food preparation kitchens, stadium administration(operator’s) offices.

• Level 5VIP lounges and private corporate boxes."'• Level 6"'Upper concourse, concession stands and access onto third tier of seats.

• The roofIs located above the highest level of seats, and contains an accessible roof includingthe ‘Ring of Fire’ lighting and media zone, with catwalk access into and through theroof structure.

Possible use after the World Cup

Following the World Cup, the stadium will be used mostly for football and rugby union matches.

In mid 2006 it was reported that the Western Province Rugby Union may become tenants at the stadium post-2010. The chief reason for the move from the traditional rugby ground at Newlands Stadium is so the stadium has a sustainable base after the FIFA World Cup. The consultants to the City of Cape Town originally approached Western Province with the idea, as well as talking to local football teams Ajax Cape Town and Santos. It is possible that the Stormers may move in as well if the Western Province leaves Newlands, although no moves are yet confirmed.cite news|first=Rob|last=Peters|date=17 July 2006|url=http://sport.iafrica.com/news/698139.htm |title=WP to leave Newlands?|publisher=iafrica.com]

The City of Cape Town is still weighing up three bids which were received for the tender to run the Green Point Stadium and surrounding urban park following the 2010 FIFA World CupTM. The tender is for a 30-year lease, which has an estimated present-day value of R260-million.

Bidders need to convince the committee that they will be able to generate an income for that period, in order to sustain the stadium and the Green Point Urban Park, and not become a burden on ratepayers. The winning bidder would also need to engage with the community in order to run the stadium and park.

The three bidders submitted include seven entities. One bid came from a single company, the other from two and the third from four companies. It is now up to the tender evaluation committee to weigh them up.

Present zoning rights mean the stadium and park can be used as places of assembly, instruction or recreation.

In August 2008 it was announced that the SAIL/Stade de France consortium were the preferred operators for Green Point Stadium. The naming rights are expected to be announced after negotiations with the preferred operator. The Stade de France consortium have successfully managed and operated the 80,000 seat Stade de France in Paris during the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 2003 IAAF Athletics Championships and the 2007 IRB Rugby World Cup.

References

External links

* [http://www.athlone.co.za/news/showarticle.php?showthis=b166caad728675cb6787b17cb8adc52c Most Capetonians support new Green Point Stadium]
* [http://worldstadia.com/stadium/south%20africa/african_renaissance_stadium/1934.php African Renaissance Stadium]
* [http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/2010/Pages/default.aspx City of Cape Town - 2010 World Cup]

* [http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/2010/gallery/Pages/StadiumConstructionProgress.aspx The construction process picture gallery]