English team to build world’s first wooden soccer stadium
NAILSWORTH, UNITED KINGDOM — An eco-friendly English club has announced plans to build the world’s first wooden soccer stadium.
Forest Green Rovers’ 5,000-capacity Eco Park stadium will be built almost entirely of fire-retardant treated wood, Reuters reported. This type of wood chars but does not oxidize when burned, and therefore significantly slows the spread of fire.
The stadium’s roof will be covered by a transparent membrane that reduces shadows on the pitch, and will help the grass grow on the field.
The stadium was designed by award-winning Zaha Hadid Architects.
“Embodying low carbon construction methods and operational processes, [the stadium] will be the first all timber football stadium with almost every element made of sustainably sourced timber including its structure, roof cantilevers and louvered cladding.” Zaha Hadid Architects director Jim Heverin said in a press release.
Gloucestershire-based Forest Green Rovers play in the Vanarama National League in English football’s fifth tier, one division below the Football League.
The club has made various efforts to go green, including installing solar panels at its existing stadium, using a solar-powered lawn mower, and even stopped serving meat to its players in 2015.
Forest Green Rovers’ 5,000-capacity Eco Park stadium will be built almost entirely of fire-retardant treated wood, Reuters reported. This type of wood chars but does not oxidize when burned, and therefore significantly slows the spread of fire.
The stadium’s roof will be covered by a transparent membrane that reduces shadows on the pitch, and will help the grass grow on the field.
The stadium was designed by award-winning Zaha Hadid Architects.
“Embodying low carbon construction methods and operational processes, [the stadium] will be the first all timber football stadium with almost every element made of sustainably sourced timber including its structure, roof cantilevers and louvered cladding.” Zaha Hadid Architects director Jim Heverin said in a press release.
Gloucestershire-based Forest Green Rovers play in the Vanarama National League in English football’s fifth tier, one division below the Football League.
The club has made various efforts to go green, including installing solar panels at its existing stadium, using a solar-powered lawn mower, and even stopped serving meat to its players in 2015.