Menu
GKR Scaffolding designed and built access solutions for the redevelopment of Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium from the demolition of White Hart Lane, through to rebuilding the new home.
The redevelopment took the venue to a 62,000-seat capacity stadium, with a unique retractable pitch, Sky Walk visitor attraction, and leisure and entertainment facilities.
The venue sets a precedent in modern stadium design, with innovative methods applied to building the award-winning stadium.
The varied scope of works included operational challenges:
• Building the largest public use scaffold staircase in the UK (two Layher access staircases) for stadium access
• Fan walkways for match day access
• Student access scaffold from Worcester Avenue to Lilywhite House
• Numerous loading bays and lifting beams
• Large freestanding access/hanging scaffold for the link bridge installation
between the stadium and the 4th floor of Lilywhite House
• Various hoist access locations.
Part of our remit included using hoists to maximise access to materials into and out of the stadium whilst minimising impact on external cladding works. We also had to take into account the imposed loadings onto both the ground and the structure, which results in some very impressive scaffold/hoist structures.
The stadium was still in use during phase one of the work, but the original staircases were being removed during the demolition of the North East corner. Therefore, access was required into the East and North stands on match days for supporters to use.
We developed a design with THFC, Mace and architects to create 2 Layher staircases to safely maintain access into and out of the stadium in these locations. We also built low-level gantries with crowd loaded hoardings to allow for the flow of the crowd to and from the stadium at peak times.
When designing the Layher staircases we had a limited footprint to work with due to encroaching on planned construction works and the highway.
The staircases had to be designed to take a 5km/m2 load on every level at any one time and meet the stadia green guide for clear access routes.
The North staircase is the largest single staircase structure in the UK installed using the Layher system. Its footprint is 14m long x 13m wide x 17m high.
We were also given the remit of creating an enclosed access to enable students to attend their exams safely.
We created a secure enclosed student walkway linking the University Technical College of Tottenham to Lilywhite House. The access had to cross the site whilst allowing planned works to continue. It also bridged 15m over the neighbouring supermarket loading bay area.
One of our last tasks was working closely with Severfield to supply the access/loading solutions for the compression ring and roof cable installation. This involves all freestanding scaffolds designed to transfer the loadings back through the terrace areas.
Our policy of early engagement meant that we began planning months in advance of anything being needed on site. We had in-depth weekly design meetings with the client, contractor and architect to develop each scheme. We had a full-time management and design team on hand to advise on resolving access issues and ensure compliance to local authority building regulations. This ensured our work did not create any delays in moving the project forward.
