Venues

Winning on and off the field.

Developers, owners and operators need venues that are profitable to create, operate and adapt, cost-effective over their lifecycle, respectful of the environment, and deliver for the community they’re part of.

Your venue should maximise long term revenue-generating opportunities, providing income streams that can be reinvested to promote a successful sporting and cultural legacy and to develop grassroots talent.

It should trigger urban regeneration, helping to improve lives and livelihoods.

And it needs to provide amazing experiences for players, performers and spectators alike.

What can we do for you?

Our engineering excellence comes as standard. We have worked on many of the world’s most famous sports and entertainment venues. But their success is often down to an integrated approach, centred around engineering expertise. 

Social and economic benefits

A successful sports venue will directly inject investment into an area and indirectly improve a city through the strengthening of tourism and its identity. Our financial and socioeconomic modelling will increase understanding of the wider beneficial community impacts and how to achieve them.

Increased revenues

Maximising existing and new build assets through our revenue-based design approach provides access to new or enhanced revenue streams that can finance success on the field or stage, or enable reinvestment in your grassroots development.

Unforgettable fan experiences

We seek a deep understanding of fans’ needs, and we segment fan bases to not only meet but exceed the expectations of all fans. We create venues where the play or performance is unforgettable and the atmosphere unbeatable.

New investment and higher returns

We support clients and investors to build business cases, unlock investment and get projects off the ground. We can maximise returns for investors through our detailed understanding of the technical and commercial factors affecting the sports, entertainment and events sector.

Better environmental and energy performance

We work with you to save energy, lower carbon emissions and use fewer resources throughout the project lifecycle. Through our support, improving your climate and environmental performance can boost your reputational, operational and financial performance too.

Efficient transport planning

The commercial and reputational success of any venue depends on the safe, efficient movement of your spectators. We identify the best ways to connect venues and get people to their destinations on time, ensuring positive travel experiences for all.

Improved safety and compliance

We can help you to keep visitors and spectators safe and meet legal and regulatory requirements by design. Our specialists can guide you on compliance with international standards on spectator safety and comfort. We know and understand the national and international guidance for licensing purposes that is required for venues hosting business and cultural events.

Lasting legacy

We provide specialist knowledge in the design, reuse and adaptation of existing venues, legacy planning and sustainability, contributing to long term success. We collaborate with you from the earliest phase of your project to provide optimum whole-life financial, environmental and social performance.

Services we provide

Designing iconic venues for global events

We work on projects of all scales, including modernisations and expansions as well as new builds, across the sporting, conferencing, entertainment and cultural field. Spanning the entire project lifecycle, from assessing feasibility to monitoring legacy, our capabilities include:

Our experience

  • Asian Games 2018, Jakarta, Indonesia
    The organising committee for the games approached us to advise on the viability of delivering a new permanent velodrome facility to host track cycling events. The available budget was relatively low, while only half the time typically required to tender, design, procure and build a velodrome was available. Working in partnership with contractor ES Global, with whom we had delivered the acclaimed shooting venue for the London 2012 Olympics, we demonstrated that the project could be delivered using prefabricated structural components that had previously been used on the London 2012 water polo and shooting venues.
  • Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, UK
    Birmingham was investigating the feasibility of bidding to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games when the 2022 games were taken away from Durban. In the face of competition from international bidders, we supported Birmingham’s bid committee and wider stakeholders to shape its vision for the 2022 games, with particular focus on transport planning, legacy planning, cost consultancy, geographic information systems, masterplanning and overlay. We undertook technical and financial feasibility studies, and supported evaluation visits to several of the proposed venues – helping the city to win and host a resoundingly successful event.
  • Multisports complex for 2019 Indian Ocean Island Games, Mauritius
    Mauritius hosted the 2019 Indian Ocean Island Games and set out to secure a legacy of elite and grassroots sport development through the construction of a multisports complex consisting of a 15,000-seater stadium with football pitch and athletics track, aquatic centre and gymnasium. As lead consultant we were responsible for all engineering design services, project, programme and commercial management, and construction supervision.
  • Paris 2024 Olympics, France
    We supported Paris’s winning bid to host the 2024 Olympics, with sustainability, urban regeneration and legacy planning for several venues: the pavilions for badminton and volleyball matches at Le Bourget, the velodrome at Saint-Quentin, and the arena at Tremblay-en-France. Post games, they will respectively support the development of increased sporting participation by people with disability, provide student accommodation, and create new offices, housing and shopping malls.
  • Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympics, Brazil
    We designed the games overlay – the huge amount of temporary infrastructure needed for the duration of the games to meet the needs of teams, officials, staff, media and spectators. We were responsible for designing and specifying the overlay, which uses standardised structural components and plant, for US$500M worth of infrastructure across 55 sites in just six months. Our BIM working methods allowed changes to overlay requirements to be accommodated quickly and easily. In addition to enabling fast track procurement, our approach delivered cost savings of up to 20% on capital intensive overlay, such as power generation and water supply.
  • Wembley Stadium, London, UK
    The initial brief for the new Wembley stadium was simply to replicate the existing stadium but upgraded to modern day standards. This would have only delivered similar revenues to the existing stadium. Instead we investigated revenue generating design facilities that could be incorporated into the stadium to deliver significant additional income. Our proposals more than doubled the capital cost of the project, but long term revenues not only paid for construction but would provide long term revenue for English football. Now nearing its 20th anniversary, Wembley is one of the most economically successful stadiums in the world as well as being a firm favourite with fans and performers – and we continue to advise on ways the stadium can generate even more revenues. The stadium has 34 bars, eight restaurants and 688 food and drink service points with up to 10,500 seated meals served at any one event. It is configured and equipped to host a wide variety of events, spanning football and American football, boxing and music concerts.
  • West Kowloon cultural district, Hong Kong
    Occupying 40ha of reclaimed land, the district was one of the largest cultural projects in the world, blending art, education and open space. It was designed to attract major international exhibitions and trade events, with 17 performing arts venues, a museum, an exhibition centre, retail and dining, hotels, offices and homes, plus a major waterside park. We provided urban, environmental and sustainability planning and infrastructure design, as well as developing a financial model for the district, and setting out the spatial and functional requirements for all the new venues.

STEPS

STEPS was the first solution to map people in motion, from transportation interfaces to stadium evacuation. STEPS realistically simulates pedestrian movements to test design layouts and operational plans. It enables users to understand how people will act in daily situations and in emergencies.

A rendering of people walking in various directions.