Wembley Stadium
As major players in the field of precast concrete stadia construction, supplying more stadia elements to new large scale stadiums than any other company in Britain, Bison Concrete Products were the obvious choice when back in 1998, Wembley National Stadium Ltd’s professional team sought a team to pitch design ideas and costs for the new national stadium.
Fresh from the successful supply and construction of Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, Bison came out of the tender process victorious and were flexible enough to effectively respond to the constantly changing requirements of the project during the development process.
The road to Wembley was a long and arduous process for all involved as the project underwent intense public media and political scrutiny, both prior to and during construction, as it emerged that the projected time scales for the build completion were unrealistic and the general public became increasingly disillusioned.
Working against this backdrop, Bison’s Lichfield factory went about producing the vast quantities of precast concrete specified for the £17million contract. Casting commenced in May 2003 and continued until 2005, with all elements delivered to budget and on time by November 2006.
The 90,000 capacity stadium required over 90,600m² of 200mm and 150mm deep Hollowcore flooring and over 13,000m³ of precast concrete to form 54 kilometres of terracing, ancillary steps, walls and stairflights.
Bison’s Chief Estimator, Neil Smith, was heavily involved in the project throughout: “This was an extremely challenging project which was ultimately a great success from the Bison team’s perspective, as we were able to supply the necessary elements effectively and on time utilising the skills and cooperation of all departments and key external suppliers.
“The overall delays that unfortunately tarnished the project as a whole meant that this positive aspect was lost – but I hope that now the stadium is open and in use the structure itself can be appreciated for what it is, a well-constructed stadium which will remain an iconic architectural landmark and source of pride for many years to come”.