FRIDAY, 3 JULY 2009
NEW LOOK FOR FORSYTH BARR STADIUM AT UNIVERSITY PLAZA
Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza in Dunedin has a new logo and brand identity.
Stadium Trust Chairman Malcolm Farry said the new brand reflects the Stadium’s role as the southern region’s leading light for entertainment and events.
“The Stadium will be an active, inspirational and invigorating venue. Performers and audiences at live events will create an unbeatable energy and the new brand captures that vibrant and energetic spirit both inside and out.
“The curved stadium aurora symbol depicts the outline of the stadium’s transparent roof, the changing moods of night and day and the thrill of the atmosphere inside the Stadium reaching skywards,” said Mr Farry.
In January this year the Stadium Trust secured Forsyth Barr as the Head Naming Rights partner for the new Stadium. Forsyth Barr joined forces with the University of Otago which lends its name to the Stadium Plaza in recognition of their significant presence in the development.
Forsyth Barr Managing Director Neil Paviour-Smith said his company was proud to be associated with the Stadium.
“Our business is based on strong relationships with our clients and we have always sought to provide meaningful and relevant support back to New Zealand. Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza will become a highly visible part of Otago and beyond – making a real contribution to New Zealand’s sporting and cultural life.
“Forsyth Barr, the Stadium and University of Otago make a great partnership. The Stadium development parallels our focus on leadership and innovation and reinforces our long and proud history with Dunedin,” said Mr Paviour-Smith.
Mayor Peter Chin said: “We are delighted with the partnership forged between Forsyth Barr and the new regional Stadium. Forsyth Barr has long been regarded as a leader in financial services with a business which began right here in Dunedin and now operates throughout New Zealand.
“The involvement of Forsyth Barr is a statement about its belief in the benefits of the Stadium for the community and the excitement that will attract to the Stadium as a southern showcase. The new brand symbolises the passion and excitement that the new Stadium will generate for spectators, players, performers and the community,” said Mr Chin.
The correct name for the new stadium is “Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza”, replacing the “The Otago Stadium” brand.
Link
25 Comments
July 7, 2009 at 4:59 pm
### ODT Online Tue, 07/07/2009 – 8:20am.
Comment by Duke of Ban Phai on Forsyth Barr and the stadium
In my view, the purchase of the stadium naming rights by Forsyth Barr shows poor judgement and couldn’t be further from an act of “meaningful support” for the community. Not only has Forsyth Barr wasted company money on a project which must come very low indeed on community priority needs, but they have tied the company’s identity to what will be seen as growing disaster financially for many years to come. I write this as an investor with Forsyth Barr, and one whose stomach now turns over everytime I receive a communication bearing the company’s name.
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### ODT Online Sat, 04/07/2009 – 12:03am.
Comment by Calvin Oaten on Stadium brand launched
At the brand launch celebrations for the new stadium, Malcolm Farry referred to the “pockets of disenchantment.” The inference is that these are trivial and therefore of little moment. Judging by the comments over the years on this site, in the ODT, the D Scene and the 78% negative response to the university conducted survey, one would be naive to believe that there was not a huge level of dissatisfaction current in the community.
Read more
July 8, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Are we able to find out what we are paying Farry and his band of merry men on the CST for there wonderful efforts so far, or is it commercially sensitive?
July 8, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Can anyone tell me why the Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza logo was developed by Wellington-based company Cato Partners?
I though one of the stadiums arguments was to support local business and the local economy.
We have some fantastic local designers here in Otago. All I can come up with is that maybe none of them wanted to be associated with such a diabolical project.
sad
July 8, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Is that any of your business, it’s none of mine, and do you need to know?
As for the logo, don’t ask me why they asked that firm, it may or may not have been tendered. Either way it’s a shocker. I like the light effect, but the typography is atrocious.
Sorry you think no one would be associated with it, I would have, but didn’t know it was coming up.
Explain diabolical?
July 8, 2009 at 10:11 pm
well at least we can agree on one thing Paul.
My point about CST payrolls is that it is public money funding it, and yes I and probably many more may have an interest for “transparencies sake”, after all we know how much the the councillors are paid.
July 8, 2009 at 10:19 pm
mouse: the figure to date (more or less) has been given on CST. It’s in DCC reports, haven’t got time to search just now (can later) or someone else here will beat me to it.
The logo is too busy and non Dunedin or Otago, or dare I say non “rugby” – the architectural reference is weak. But if Malcolm likes it…
July 8, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Thanks Elizabeth.
I know I am a bit late on all the stadium debate in this particular forum but I have been trying to find any other Roofed stadiums in the world and it seems that we will be a world first! All of the stadiums I can find that have roofs also have the word “retractable” attached to them. Have I missed something here? Or are Farry and the boys true genius’?
July 8, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Hi Mouse,
yes they are pushing the envelope. But then they aren’t the ones pushing the envelope, so please don’t put this one on Farry and the ‘boys’.
The engineering and architecture comes from the finest stadium building outfit in the world, bar none. These are the people responsible for the roof. If for one minute it wasn’t going to work (and don’t ask David, he’s not the turf expert), then HOK Sport would not have suggested it.
Yes it is almost genius, the ETFE material which is the roof is not new, but it is the best available. It’s used in the Eden Project in the south of Britain, so plants do grow. It’s the same material used in the construction of the Water Cub Beijing Olympic swimming complex, so it is proven. It’s the same material used in the Allianz Arena in Munich, one of the world’s most stunning sporting arenas.
As for roofed stadiums, they do exist and they are fixed. I have been to some, and one of my fav was BC Place Stadium in Vancouver. Hmm Roof – check, sports – check, concerts – check = loving the roof concept. Sorry you don’t seem to have spent anything longer than 10 seconds looking for roofed stadiums, the web is filled with them.
Hope this helps.
Back to the logo, Elizabeth & Mouse, it’s a shocker eh! I don’t know if it needs to speak anything, Wembley’s doesn’t speak London, in fact there are very few stadium logos which speak to location (or that do it well). Many (US) owned stadiums, such as US Cellular Field (White Sox) and LandShark Stadium for the Miami Dolphins play on teams.
Actually, thanks guys. Don’t know if I can fit it in tonight (looming design), but I’ll do a piece on Stadium Logo design in the next day or two – nothing like a fun project for procrastination.
July 9, 2009 at 4:23 pm
mouse – there’s the Council’s quarterly financial report (27/4/09) that went to the Finance and Strategy committee which shows overall position on the stadium project:
Report – FSC – 27/04/2009 (PDF, 197.5 kb, new window)
Financial Result – 9 Months to 31 March 2009
Admittedly it doesn’t tell us what CST has been spending directly, say on payrolls for example. But somewhere I have seen a (snapshot) figure for CST…more hunting to do.
There doesn’t appear to be a recent Stakeholders Group report for the Stadium, which would normally contain a report from CST executive.
July 9, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Paul said: “Back to the logo, Elizabeth & Mouse, it’s a shocker eh! I don’t know if it needs to speak anything, Wembley’s doesn’t speak London, in fact there are very few stadium logos which speak to location (or that do it well). Many (US) owned stadiums, such as US Cellular Field (White Sox) and LandShark Stadium for the Miami Dolphins play on teams.
Actually, thanks guys. Don’t know if I can fit it in tonight (looming design), but I’ll do a piece on Stadium Logo design in the next day or two – nothing like a fun project for procrastination.”
Will be glad to see what you come up with on logos…
I realise it doesn’t have to be about place, but god am I sick of swoosh logos – used by councils, authorities and other entities…all the confused distance past Nike’s logo and whatever fed it. The get up and go, with-it, brigade of visual identities.
The kind of logos I enjoy are much more graphically suave. And some of the best grow and contemporise to meet the ‘future’…or have animation ‘depth’…ie REAL logos.
But are they real, no, I think we want an idea that takes us into very sophisticated branding territory. To be so simple it kills us.
Malcolm’s eg is a sad prickly piece – it looks older (by some way, in terms of graphic trends) than the idea of the stadium and its architecture…it’s not forward looking, it’s staccato, dated and boring.
Somebody didn’t have their eye in.
Like you Paul, have had a bit to do with logos – designing them and doing what I call “briefs of care” for commissioned commercial designers working to establish a corporate client’s visual identity…taking the designers through client philosophy, audience and reaction…getting it smart, not having the designer give up before they have their own designer flash…ie seeing to avoidance of the tired and the copied.
July 10, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Thanks for the information on the financial reports Elizabeth. It would be fascinating to know a bit more.
And Paul, maybe you have a much better search engine than me, but the only stadium I can find on the net is the one in Vancouver, can you send me some links to others, as I am really interested to see how they all work. the technology in the Vancouver roof looks amazing, I hope we are using the same materials!
July 10, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Hi mouse – been a crash week, will do a search for you on Sunday…yikes, maybe the CST stuff was in a file I wasn’t meant to see \\\\\\\ but seriously I’ll look into this.
Elsewhere on this blog it’s possible we have more on roofed stadiums. Paul and I will come back to you here with links.
July 10, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Re roofed stadia, David said this – if it helps your own search…
http://dunedinstadium.wordpress.com/2009/06/03/qualms-over-sts-website/#comment-2873
June 4, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Glad to see you’re keeping up with the comedy Paul – “most innovative stadium in the Southern Hemisphere” – that’s funny, and sad.
Funny – because there are far more innovative roofed stadia in the southern hemisphere (some of them even have retractable rooves so the grass will grow, whereas the turf experts have said the grass won’t grow because of our roof – oh well – we can invent rugby played on dirt).
{continues}
July 10, 2009 at 10:50 pm
Ecocho has found 19900 web results for retractable roof stadiums.
http://www.ecocho.co.nz/yahoo/search.php?q=retractable%20roof%20stadiums&page=1&type=web
Category: Covered stadiums – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
7 Jul 2008 … A list of covered stadiums (dome, retractable-roof, etc…) with a playing surface large enough to host field sports such as football …
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Covered_stadiums
Category: Multi-purpose stadium – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The advantage to a multi-purpose stadium is that a singular infrastructure and piece of real estate can support both teams in terms of transportation and …
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-purpose_stadium
Category: Stadium – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A modern stadium (plural stadiums or stadia) is a place, or venue, for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts or other events, consisting of a field or stage …
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stadium
stadium (architecture) :: Design innovations — Britannica Online …
Cables contributed significantly to speed of construction, to lightness of roof, and to economy of construction cost in covered stadiums. …
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/562319/stadium/6862/Design-innovations
HOK Sport Venue Event – London 2012 Olympic Stadium [this year HOK rebranded as Populous]
http://www.populous.com/
http://portfolio.populous.com/projects/index.html
Herzog and DeMeuron – Beijing Olympic Stadium (The Bird’s Nest)
http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/03/07/beijings-olympic-stadium-by-herzog-and-demeuron/
see links at What if?
http://dunedinstadium.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/but-real-stadium-architecture/
http://dunedinstadium.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/birds-nest-continued/
YouTube – contemporary stadium design
27 sec – 3 Jun 2007 – phase 1 of the new Vesalius stadium in Ghent, Belgium.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE3fM_FYMOs
YouTube search “new stadiums”
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=new+stadiums&search_type=
New York Times
ART/ARCHITECTURE; Now Taking the Field: Bold Stadium Designs
By Christopher Hawthorne
Published: Sunday, July 27, 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/27/arts/art-architecture-now-taking-the-field-bold-stadium-designs.html?pagewanted=1
NB Paul’s links will be much superior to these quick search leads.
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Something to think about…
From The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida:
“The physical attractions that most cities focus on building — sports stadiums, freeways, urban malls and tourism-and-entertainment districts that resemble theme parks — are irrelevant, insufficient or actually unattractive to many Creative Class people.”
Mobility is one reason, he writes. “When people move frequently to pursue careers and lifestyle interests, it becomes harder to sustain the home-team allegiances built in youth.”
http://creativeclass.com/richard_florida/books/the_rise_of_the_creative_class/
About the book
“Florida’s first national bestseller received the Washington Monthly’s Political Book Award and was cited as a major breakthrough idea of 2004 by the Harvard Business Review. Toronto’s Globe and Mail called it “an intellectual tour de force, scholarly yet colourfully written,” and its ideas have been implemented and called on for inspiration in communities and cities across the United States and the world.
“Rise, as it has been appropriately re-dubbed in the popular lexicon, looks at the forces reshaping our economy and how companies, communities and people can survive and prosper in uncertain times. It gives us a provocative new way to think about why we live as we do today – and where we might be headed. Weaving storytelling with reams of cutting-edge research, Florida traces the fundamental theme that runs through a host of seemingly unrelated changes in American society: the growing role of creativity in our economy.
“Just as William Whyte’s 1956 classic The Organisation Man showed how the organisational ethos of that age permeated every aspect of life, Florida describes a society in which the creative ethos is increasingly dominant. Millions of us are beginning to work and live much as creative types like artists and scientists always have. Our values and tastes, our personal relationships, our choices of where to live, and even our sense and use of time are changing.
“Leading this transformation are the 40 million Americans – over a third of our national workforce – who create for a living. This “creative class” is found in a variety of fields, from engineering to theatre, biotech to education, architecture to small business. Their choices have already had a huge economic impact. In the future, they will determine how the workplace is organised, what companies will prosper or go bankrupt, and even which cities will thrive or wither.”
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[aside]
http://creativeclass.com/richard_florida/books/
Richard Florida’s books:
* Who’s Your City?
* The Flight of the Creative Class
* The Rise of the Creative Class
* The Breakthrough Illusion
* Beyond Mass Production
July 11, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Sorry Mouse, I’ve had a nightmare week and am now on the road. Good links Elizabeth I’ll add some asap (but I am also including indoor arenas where major sports are played).
As for materials we are actually using stuff that is far superior to what was/is at BC Place stadium in Vancouver. As mentioned our material is in the Allianz Arena in Munich (one of the most beautiful stadiums in the world) and the Water Cube in Beijing.
Incidentally BC Place is in for a massive overhaul and should be completed by the time I’m back there. BC Place was funny, literally blown up like a ballon, and when you went in and out of the doors the wind was incredible. From memory the roof ripped a couple of years back with the weight of snow – if only they were using our ETFE.
July 11, 2009 at 8:14 pm
Adding some more links:
The Stadium Guide – Euro 2000
The Stadium Guide is the largest and most complete guide on the Internet dedicated to the football stadia of Europe.
http://www.stadiumguide.com/index.htm
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Architecture Week
Making the Water Cube
by Sherif Morad Abdelmohsen, with Chuck Eastman et al.
The Beijing National Aquatics Center, often referred to as the “Water Cube,” was built for the 2008 Olympic Games. The winning entry in an international design competition was submitted by the China State Construction and Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) with Arup and PTW Architects. The Water Cube building design concept is all about water, deeply expressed in its bubbly state. The building is on the Olympic Green in Beijing, China, across from the main stadium by Herzog & de Meuron.
http://www.architectureweek.com/2008/0611/tools_2-1.html
Beijing National Aquatics Center – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Water Cube was specially designed and built by a consortium made up of PTW Architects (an Australian architecture firm), Arup international engineering …
The Beijing National Aquatics Center (simplified Chinese: 北京国家游泳中心; traditional Chinese: 北京國家游泳中心), also known as the National Aquatics Center (国家游泳中心), better known as the Water Cube (水立方), is an aquatics center that was built alongside Beijing National Stadium in the Olympic Green for the swimming competitions of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Despite its nickname, the building is a cuboid (rectangular box), not a cube.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_National_Aquatics_Center
Beijing 2008
Water Cube “wears its coat”
The center will be the venue for swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water-polo final during the Olympic Games. See Photo gallery and News. This site also profiles the National Stadium (The Bird’s Nest) and Other Venues.
http://en.beijing2008.cn/46/39/WaterCube.shtml
http://en.beijing2008.cn/02/41/Nationalstadium.shtml
http://en.beijing2008.cn/90/41/othervenues.shtml
PTW Architects (formerly Peddle Thorp & Walker) http://www.ptw.com.au/
Inhabitat » The Watercube Wins Australia’s Highest Architecture Award
The Chinese National Aquatic Center, better known as the Watercube, recently won the most prestigious architecture award from the Australian …
http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/11/06/the-watercube-wins-australias-highest-architecture-award/
Dezeen » Blog Archive » Watercube by PTW Architects
The design concept of the “water cube” combines the symbolisms of the architecture and the unique water bubble structure, and builds an appropriate …
Posted by Rose Etherington February 6th, 2008 6:50 am
http://www.dezeen.com/2008/02/06/watercube-by-chris-bosse/
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Just when you thought Beijing’s Water Cube was the only non-ovaloid stadium, there was Vitrolles Stadium (1994) – the squared-off multimedia concert stadium that also accommodates sports…
bnet
The Architectural Review, February 1, 1996
Rock fort – concert stadium in Vitrolles, France
By Penny McGuire
A new stadium for rock concerts in a red-stained desert proclaims in monolithic form the energy of rock music and barren beauty of the landscape. In designing a new stadium, principally for rock concerts but also for sports, near the town of Vitrolles in the south of France, Rudy Ricciotti has turned his back on the usual High-Tech, high-tensile structures.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3575/is_n1188_v199/ai_18542341/
FloorNature December 2007
Concert Stadium. Vitrolles (France). Rudy Ricciotti. 2000
By Laura Della Badia
Vitrolles is a small town on the outskirts of Marseilles with a multimedia centre built explicitly to revitalise a degraded area that had been abandoned and become unsafe. The building, designed by engineer/architect Rudy Ricciotti, is a big grey parallelepiped standing out alone in the rocky landscape around it. Its design is geometric, square and linear, mirroring Ricciotti’s typical hard, minimalist style. But it is precisely this simplicity that makes his architecture so powerful.
http://www.floornature.com/articoli/articolo.php?id=780&sez=3&tit=Concert-Stadium.-Vitrolles-(France).-Rudy-Ricciotti.-2000
Rudy Ricciotti http://www.rudyricciotti.com
Flickr – 19 photos Vitrolles Stadium
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11765034@N02/sets/72157618774541839/
archilab
Rudy Ricciotti (1952)
In the 1980s, engineer and architect Rudy Ricciotti practised a hedonistic architecture, involving the pleasure of form and space. Then, with the advent of the 1990s, he veered away from the formal deadlocks of neo-modernism. From then on his work has been informed by a critical radicalness which would find early expression in the Vitrolles Stadium (1994).
http://www.archilab.org/public/2000/catalog/riccio/riccioen.htm
July 12, 2009 at 12:05 am
The problem that HOK New Zealand have faced here is the usual requirement to compromise the design to fit the budget and the brief. That was, to remove the perceived negative impact of Dunedin’s wet weather. Not that I think that Dunedin’s problem is any worse than any other area of the country, but try telling that to the SKY TV commentators or NZRFU.
Now, this is not a fault created by CST. Not blaming them in the least. Every project starts from the ideal, and then works backwards. Until the design and the budget meet somewhere along the way.
The original press release from CST spoke of a retractable roof, as is the norm for a fully enclosed grass turf stadium. But this was almost immediately replaced by a fixed roof design. Less desirable, but clearly significant money to be saved. Ultimately we need to be realistic in what can be achieved.
This will be the first project undertaken by HOK, worldwide, that incorporates both a 100% natural grass turf fixed playing surface, and a completely enclosed fixed roof. HOK have stated in their design reports that this is not ideal, and that they have no historical data showing where this has been successfully attempted in the past. The Beijing Water Cube seems to have been a resounding success. From last report none of the water in the swimming pool inside had died or had needed to be replaced. The Eden Project in England has worked well, as do most glasshouses when they are exposed to sunlight from above, and from all sides. No concrete walls or terraced seating to combat. As a result, the designers have stepped back from endorsing completely the success of this combination, citing this as the weakness and risk area of the project. But they are hopeful. And from a professional consultant, and recognised expert in the field of stadia design, hopeful is pretty good.
The turf consultant has also stepped back from a total success endorsement but again, is hopeful. Based on the short term local tests. The concern expressed by the turf consultant is that the testing was conducted over a shorter than desirable time frame, and during the late spring and summer months only. The consultant preferred to conduct a full 12 month test period, in order to experience all seasons. But this was not possible with the time constraints in the project brief. It could be argued that Dunedin often experiences all 4 seasons in one day, so it shouldn’t have been an issue.
The upshot is that no one, not HOK, not the turf consultants, not you, and not I, know that the combination of a 100% natural grass turf fixed playing surface and a completely enclosed fixed roof system will work successfully. Or that it won’t work successfully. And we won’t know until around October 2012. That’s when the first full season of Test, Super, and Domestic competition rugby will have been completed. And the ground will have experienced a full 12 month seasonal cycle. If it works, it will be a world first, and will likely set the standard for future football stadiums. And they can do away with the horrible artificial turf systems that are rolled in and zipped together for football games.
If not, then it will illustrate why no one has successfully attempted this before.
This aspect of the stadium design will continue to be debated, and watched worldwide with interest. Which is exciting. As happens with any first time venture where the ultimate long term result is unknown.
July 12, 2009 at 1:47 am
Well said Phil, this is the great experiment.
Casting all other things aside, as a design exercise it’s definitely edge of the seat stuff. Going to be exciting to see world reaction, win or lose on the turf system. It’s not going to pass without international comment and critique, that’s for certain.
Possibly, the idea of this roofed natural turf stadium is before its time technologically. A bit like medical science heading to the treatment of diabetes…that is, they know where they’re heading but RWC 2011 might be a fraction too soon in the testing. Which is only to say the local design trials or tribulations will get the world of stadium design moved on, eventually…
And using a cheaper structure here than other countries or cities would contemplate for the turf test is a better thing than paying for that spectacular Water Cube, if the water dies.
July 12, 2009 at 4:03 pm
The lower height of the north stand should aid the natural entry of light, relative to a much higher stand (take the stands in ChCh as a good example of a shading). It may also depend a little on the internal climate of the stadium, which also seems like a great experiment. I rather wonder whether we might see some jerry-rigged hydroponic lighting in time, using night-rate electricity perhaps…
July 12, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Hello LG
Cr Walls said somewhere here there’s lighting – the inference was to assist turf growth.
Not sure if you caught these earlier comments – fyi
(see other comments within these threads)
Phil May 4, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Ok, curiosity got the better of me here. Clearly I have too much time on my hands. I tracked down an HOK commissioned report on the roof, turf etc. Included in the report were a series of rendered shadow diagrams. Which gave me a great benchmark. Recreating the stadium from published diagrams I went through the same process.
{continues}
Phil May 8, 2009 at 11:11 pm
The unfortunate aspect of the test rig episode, was that the turf trials were carried out during the summer months only.
{continues}
Elizabeth May 21, 2009 at 2:25 am
Turf texts (light search only)…some of the science and issues
{continues}
July 12, 2009 at 8:34 pm
There’s a Norwegian company called Mobile Lighting Rig who supply portable lighting apparatus specifically to aid the growth of natural grass within stadia. They appear to be the world leaders in this technology. I believe they have been contracted for use in Wembley and also the Millenium Stadium in Wales. And at Wimbledon also.The running costs are quite reasonable at about 100 dollars a day when in use, but I don’t know what the purchase cost is.
Thanks for saving the link regarding the shading diagrams, Elizabeth. I was wondering where I had put that data. The shading diagrams are accurate and followed the same process employed by the designers. Although I included a bit more of the surrounding environment than they had.
July 12, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Nice talk guys, interesting stuff.
There is great debate going on in North America at the moment about the move back to natural turf for their most popular stadium sports – Football (Gridiron) and Baseball. Seems the allure of astro turf is finally declining – after decades. But this is no doubt due to the technology catching up.
Like all things, there has been talk of this and that, and where will the money come from. I don’t know if they were included, but there certainly has been talk of lighting rigs.
As pointed out by Phil, these (coupled with turf management technology) have seen the total transformation of the the most popular sport in the UK, Football. And if any sports buff in the UK is asked, it’s been the immense turn around in the surfaces which has led to better football and an all round better spectacle. I know Anfield (the home of Liverpool) has been using lighting rigs. Anfield is regarded as one of the best turfs in the world.
At the end of the day, it’s all about putting on the best playing surface, under the best conditions (a roof is a good start), and as demonstrated in the UK, the entertainment and spectacle go hand in hand.
July 13, 2009 at 12:07 am
Thanks. That’s great. I’d seen the diagrams so thought the sun situation wasn’t too too bad. Of course there is also just the net issue of how feeble the sunlight in Dunedin is in June and July. Some nice figures courtesy of the Energy Management Program:
http://www.otagophysics.ac.nz/eman/weather_station/monthly.html
There are also some useful suncharts here (courtesy of Vic architecture), which I’ve found useful in house hunting, and show just how low the sun is in winter:
http://www.victoria.ac.nz/cbpr/resources/nz-sun-chart.aspx
{Sorry LG – because your post contained two urls it went to moderation. This is a WordPress glitch. EK
and thanks for picking this up Elizabeth – Paul}
July 14, 2009 at 8:14 am
Elizabeth:
I have not got access to my files at the moment but, if it is any thng to do with turf and/or turf growth, my recall is that I would be making reference to the various reports from Jock Allison and the other turf advisors.
July 14, 2009 at 8:17 am
Paul:
Interesting your comments re the debate going on about natural vs artificial turf in North America. Just as interesting, what municipalities and/or city governments (call them what you will) are – or will do – to hold professional sporting teams in their cities and towns.
I guess the new Yankee Stadium in NY is a case in point but there are plenty of others.