Redefining the Matchday Experience for Tottenham Hotspur Fans
April 2, 2019
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Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has set a new benchmark in fan experience
Populous’ brief for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium emphasised the importance of creating an unrivalled matchday experience for every fan, no matter what ticket they hold.
“Modern stadium design has been accused of putting the needs of premium ticket holders before those of general admission spectators,” says Tom Jones, Lead Architect. “The club was very clear that it didn’t want this to be the case at their new home; the new stadium had to be somewhere that catered equally for the needs of all fans.”
In response to this brief, Populous and Jump Studios, a Populous company, took inspiration from high street concepts to create a series of attractive and functional communal spaces that emphasise a quality and freedom of choice unrivalled at any other UK entertainment venue.
The concourse
General admission ticket holders are free to explore the full length of the stadium concourse, with its offer of 30 bars, 15 eateries and four members’ clubs, together with three pub-style feature bars inspired by the club’s former home, White Hart Lane.
“Our design approach to the general admission concourse was to take the traditional elements found within stadiums such as bars and restaurants and amplify the design and the quantity of choice and materials, to start to change the perspective of how users interact with these spaces,” explains Interior Designer Liam Doyle.
“Tottenham Hotspur fans are famously proud of their team and community, so we wanted to deliver a design that is authentic and raw in a contemporary and timeless way.”
The Market Place
Nowhere is this design philosophy more evident than in The Market Place — the centrepiece of a new fan zone located underneath the 17,500-seat South Stand.
Open before and after matches, The Market Place is designed to create a feeling of unity and a sense of anticipation among home supporters, with the excited hum of pre-match activity rising through the stunning five-storey atrium setting and spilling out into the stadium bowl.
There is a choice of four street-style food stalls each serving different dishes inspired by London’s vibrant market scene, while an eatery serving fried chicken brings a distinctly North London flavour to the space. Located in front of the food stalls, stepped terraces inspired by the stands in historic football stadiums provide somewhere for fans to sit and enjoy their food.
Also within the space are the 65-metre Goal Line bar and the Beavertown Tottenham Taproom, operated by the stadium’s official craft beer supplier, Beavertown Brewery. Here the local start-up’s edgy brand adds a burst of colour, with the design scheme featuring a rustic concrete-topped bar, neon lighting, and sci-fi-inspired wall art – merging key elements of Beavertown’s branding with the familiar material palette from the stadium’s concourse. The craft beers served in the taproom are brewed just metres away in the world’s first in-stadium microbrewery.
It’s all about creating a range of experiences, says Tom Jones: “The stadium itself is multi-use but we wanted it to be more than that, we wanted it to be a multiexperience venue – somewhere fans can discover something new each time they visit.”
