3.
Masterplanning
3.1 The need for a masterplan
3.2 Orientation
3.3 Zoning
3.1 The need for a masterplan
3.1.1 Basic principles
Sports complexes are often constructed over a
period of years (or even decades) for reasons of
finance, natural growth or land availability. To help
ensure that the ultimate development is consistent in
terms of aesthetic quality and functional efficiency,
and to avoid abortive work, a comprehensive plan
for the entire development should be evolved at the
very outset. This allows successive phases of the
development to be carried out by different com-
mittees or boards over a period of time in the safe
knowledge that their particular phase will be consist-
ent with the whole (Figure 3.1).
As an example of a masterplan, Figure 3.2 shows in
schematic form the masterplan for the new Milton
Keynes stadium by HOK Sport Architects.
The art of planning large stadium sites hinges on the
correct zoning of the available land and the separ-
ation of incompatible uses which must be accom-
modated within the site boundaries. These uses
3.4 Overlay
3.5 Security against terrorism
3.6 Conclusion
include not only the direct sporting functions but
also very substantial parking areas, pedestrian and
vehicular circulation routes, etc.
3.1.2 Sequence of decisions
All design must set out from the following determin-
ing factors.
Pitch/central area
The starting point of design is the central area or
playing field. Its shape, dimensions and orientation
must enable it to fulfil all the functions required of it
(see Chapter 6).
Seating capacity
Next comes the seating capacity. If the pitch is to be
of variable size to cater for very different activities
then the design capacity should be stated as two
figures: the number of seats around the maximum
pitch size (perhaps football or athletics) and the
maximum capacity around the smallest space user
(perhaps the performers in a pop concert, or a box-
ing ring). The stadium owners will have very strong
views on seating capacities as these form the basis
of their profitability calculations.
29
Masterplanning

Figure 3.1 An example of a stadium planned for phased development. It is the British ‘Stadium for the Nineties’ proposal
by the Lobb Partnership (now HOK Sport Architecture) in association with the Sports Council and the structural engineers
YRM Anthony Hunt Associates.

Figure 3.2 The master-

plan for the new Milton
Keynes stadium in the UK.
Architects: HOK Sport
Architecture.

30

Orientation
Pitch orientation must be suitable for the events to
be staged (see Section 3.2 below), and the master-
plan must be structured around this.
Zoning
Finally, a discipline for the arrangement of all the
elements of the stadium, from the pitch at the cen-
tre to the parking spaces outside, is provided by the
need for safety zoning as explained in Section 3.3
below.
3.2 Orientation
3.2.1 Design factors
The orientation of the playing field will depend on the
uses to which it will be put, the main factors being:
• The hemisphere in which the stadium is located.
• The period of the year in which the designated
sports will be played.
• The times of day these events will be played.
• Specific local environmental conditions such as
wind direction.
All the advice below applies to open stadia in tem-
perate zones in the northern hemisphere, and read-
ers should make the necessary adjustments for
stadia in other situations.
3.2.2 Football and rugby
Football and rugby in Europe are played during the
autumn and winter months, in the early afternoon.
This means that the sun is low in the sky and mov-
ing from south-south-west to west. An ideal orien-
tation for the playing area is to have its longitudinal
axis running north–south, or perhaps northwest–
southeast. With these orientations the sun will be
at the side of the stadium during play, and the early
morning sun will fall on the greatest area of the
pitch, thus helping any frost in the ground to thaw
before play commences. Figure 3.3 summarizes the
situation.
The sun should be at the side of the pitch during
play. This suits the players, the spectators and the
TV cameras.
Masterplanning
N
0 -20
15
5
4
75
Best common axis of operation for many sports
Range acceptable for football and rugby
Best range of track and field pitch games
Figure 3.3 Recommended pitch orientations in northern
Europe for principal sports. The underlying principle is that
runners in athletics and sportsmen in ball games should
never have the late afternoon sun in their eyes.
3.2.3 Athletics
Field and track sports in Europe take place mostly
during the summer and autumn months. Runners
and hurdlers approaching the finishing line should
not have the sun in their eyes and nor, ideally, should
spectators. The ideal orientation in the northern
hemisphere is for the longitudinal axis of the track to
run 15 degrees west of north (Figure 3.3). The same
applies to the stadium, which should be situated on
the same side as the home straight and as close to
the finish line as possible.
Sometimes it is difficult to achieve the above track
orientations while also conforming with the require-
ments for wind direction. Where possible, alternative
directions should therefore be provided for running,
jumping and throwing events.
31
Masterplanning
3.2.4 Tennis
The longitudinal axis of the court should run north–
south. Diverging by up to 22 or 23 degrees in either
direction is acceptable, and diverging by 45 degrees
is the limit. If matches are to be played in early
morning or late evening the orientation becomes
more critical.
3.3 Zoning
3.3.1 Planning for safety
Having set the orientation the next priority is to plan
the position of the stadium on the site, and to start
thinking about the interrelationship of its major parts;
and this is best done by identifying the five zones
which make up the safety plan (Figure 3.4). The size
and location of these zones are critical to the perfor-
mance of the stadium in an emergency, and they are:
Zone 1 The activity area (that is the central area
and/or pitch on which the games take
place).
Zone 2 The spectator terraces.
Zone 3 The concourses surrounding the activity
area.
Zone 4 The circulation area surrounding the sta-
dium structure and separating it from the
perimeter fence.
Zone 5 The open space outside the perimeter
fence and separating it from the car parks.
The purpose of such zoning is to allow spectators to
escape from their seats, in an emergency, to a series
of intermediate safety zones leading ultimately to
a place of permanent safety outside. It provides a
clear and helpful framework for design not only for
new stadia but also for the refurbishment of existing
facilities.
A tragic example is provided by the fire which killed
56 people at the Valley Parade Stadium in Bradford,
UK in 1985. The stand was an old one, built of fram-
ing and timber steppings. On 11 May 1985 a fire
started in the accumulated litter under the steppings
and spread rapidly through the antiquated structure.
Most spectators fled from the stands (Zone 2) to the
open pitch (Zone 1) and were safe; but many made
their way back through the stand towards the gates
32
by which they had entered. Because there was no
Zone 3 or 4 in the Valley Parade Stadium these
gates formed the perimeter between the stadium
and the outside world and management took the
view that they needed to be secure – therefore the
escaping spectators found them locked. Hundreds
of people were trapped here, the fire and smoke
soon caught up with them, and 56 people died.
Two lessons came out of this experience, one for
managers and one for designers.
• Managers must ensure that gates offering escape
from the spectator terraces to places of safety
must be manned at all times when the stadium
is in use, and easily openable to let spectators
escape in case of emergency.
• Designers must recognize that management pro-
cedures such as the above can never be fool-
proof, and the stadium must be designed on
the assumption of management failure. There
should, where possible, be a Zone 4 within the
outer perimeter to which spectators can escape
and where they will be safe even if the perimeter
gates are locked, cutting them off from the outside
world.
The arrangements whereby disabled spectators,
particularly those in wheelchairs, are enabled to
make their way to this area, and be safely accom-
modated within it, need particularly careful thought –
see Chapter 10.
More detailed design notes follow below, starting
with Zone 5 (the area of ‘permanent safety’) and pro-
ceeding to Zone 1 (a place of ‘temporary safety’).
3.3.2 Zone 5
The stadium should ideally be surrounded by car
parks, bus parks and access to transport. The car
park (well-designed, to avoid bleakness) should
ideally surround the stadium on all sides so that
spectators can park their cars on the same side of
the stadium as their seats and then walk straight to
an entrance gate and to their individual seats with-
out having to circumnavigate.
Between this ring of parking areas and the sta-
dium perimeter there should be a vehicle-free zone

Outside the sports ground
Outer circulation area
Internal concourse
Seating
Field of play
Zone One
Zone Two
Zone Three
Zone Four
Zone Five
Figure 3.4 Zoning diagram showing the five ‘safety zones’ which form the basis for a safe stadium.
usually described as Zone 5, which can serve sev-
eral useful purposes:
• From the point of view of safety, it is a so-called
‘permanent’ safety zone to which spectators can
escape from the stands via Zones 3 and 4, and
safely remain until the emergency has been dealt
with. It should be possible to accommodate the
whole of the stadium population here at a density
of 4 to 6 people per square metre.
• From the point of view of everyday circulation,
Zones 4 or 5 provide a belt of space in which
spectators may circumnavigate the stadium to
get from one entrance gate to another, assuming
their first choice of gate was wrong (see Section
14.3.1). Every effort should be made to ensure that
people are directed from their cars (or other points
of arrival) to the appropriate gate for their particu-
lar seat, but mistakes will always be made and
there should be an easy route round the stadium
to allow for this.
• Retail points, meeting points and information
boards can also very usefully be located in this
zone of open space. To serve this social function
the surface and its fittings (kiosks, information
boards, etc) should be pleasantly designed, not
left as a bleak band of tarmac.
• The above point can be taken further with Zone 5
serving as a pleasantly landscaped buffer zone
between the ‘event’ and the outside world.
Masterplanning
Zone one: The playing field.
Zone two: The spectator seating and standing areas.
Zone three: The internal concourses, restaurants,
bars, and other social areas.
Zone four: The circulation area between the stadium
structure and the perimeter fence.
Zone five: The open space outside the perimeter fence
Stadium performances (whether they be sport,
music or general entertainment) are essentially
escapist, and their enjoyment can be heightened
by visually disconnecting the audience from the
workaday outside environment.
3.3.3 Zone 4
The stadium perimeter will form the security line
across which no one may pass without a valid ticket.
Between this line of control and the actual stadium
structure is Zone 4, which may have two functions:
• From the point of view of safety, it is a place of
‘temporary safety’ to which spectators may escape
directly from the stadium, and from which they
can then proceed to permanent safety in Zone 5.
It is therefore a kind of reservoir between Zones
3 and 5. If the pitch (Zone 1) is not designated as
a temporary safety zone, then Zone 4 should be
large enough to accommodate the whole stadium
population at a density of 4 to 6 people per square
metre. But if Zone 1 is so designated Zone 4 may
be reduced appropriately. In all cases the number
of exit gates, and their dimensions, must allow
the necessary ease and speed of egress from one
zone to another (see Section 14.6).
• From the point of view of everyday circulation,
Zone 4 is the main circumnavigation route for
people inside the stadium perimeter (i.e. who have
33
Masterplanning
surrendered their tickets and passed the control
points).
The importance of Zone 4 can be seen from the
Valley Parade fire. Because that stadium had no such
zone, management felt that the link between Zones
2 and 5 had to be secure. The gates were therefore
locked, inadequately supervised, and many people
died horribly. Had there been a Zone 4 and good
signposting many lives could have been saved even
with the outer gates being locked.
3.3.4 Zone 3
This comprises the stadium’s internal concourses
and social areas (restaurants, bars, etc.) and is situ-
ated between Zones 2 and 4. Spectators must pass
through this zone in order to reach a final place of
safety (Zones 4 or 5). For this reason this zone, or
the circulation areas within it, are often designed
with a good level of fire safety so that large numbers
of people can move through them at low risk in the
short term.
Sometimes the main line of turnstiles is at the face
of the stadium, at the outside of Zone 3. If the turn-
stiles are at the edge of Zone 4, the external pre-
cinct, then there may also be a secondary ticket
check at the boundary between Zones 3 and 4 as
people enter the main stadium.
3.3.5 Zone 2
This comprises the viewing terraces around the
pitch. In many cases the greatest safety risk is
thought to come from the building behind the ter-
races, so the seating terraces are seen as a place
where spectators can stay in relative safety.
There may be a ticket check between Zones 2 and
3, where stewards guide people to their seat. There
will often be a barrier at the edge of the arena (Zone
1) to prevent people entering the field of play, but
this barrier must not impede people trying to flee
from a fire or other emergency.
3.3.6 Zone 1
The pitch or event space forms the very centre
of the stadium. Along with Zone 4 it can serve the
34
additional purpose of being a place of temporary
safety, on the following conditions:
• The escape routes from the seating areas to the
pitch must be suitably designed – i.e. escape will
not be an easy matter if there is a barrier separat-
ing pitch and seating terraces (see Chapter 9).
• The surface material of the pitch must be
taken into account. The heat in the Valley Parade
fire was so intense that clothing of the police
and spectators standing on the grass pitch ignited:
had the pitch been covered with a synthetic
material that too might have ignited. These
matters must be thoroughly discussed with the
fire authorities at design stage and it must be
ensured that management cannot take decisions
many years later to change the pitch surfacing
without being aware of the implications for safety.
3.3.7 Barriers between zones
In all cases the number of exit gates, and their
dimensions, must allow the necessary ease and
speed of egress from one zone to another. The prin-
ciples involved are given in Section 14.6.
3.4 Overlay
At stadia there is normally a regular schedule of
events through the year, and sometimes on top of
this there are more infrequent, bigger events that are
hosted there. For example a club football ground will
hold the annual list of matches of the club, and then
it might bid to hold an international cup final that will
come to the stadium once every few years. Such a
match will attract more spectators, more media and
more sponsors for whom it is not worth constructing
permanent accommodation, so temporary arrange-
ments can be made, called an ‘overlay’ (see also
Section 3.4).
In order for the overlay to be accounted for in the
masterplan, some idea of the events to be hosted is
required. In general an infrequent event at a stadium
is likely to require more space, certainly outside the
building and possibly also inside. Some of the tem-
porary areas that might be needed are:
• Additional space for larger crowds to arrive at the
stadium. This might be more car parking, wider
access routes, more bus drop-off areas.

• Sponsors’ advertising, additional catering, sales
areas and visitor attractions. Some major events
are even accompanied by activities for people who
come along, but don’t have a ticket for the event.
• Additional security. High-profile events often
require greater security measures, for example
everyone may be searched before they enter the
ground, and this activity, along with the associated
queuing, can take a great deal of space.
• Temporary media areas including space for televi-
sion outside broadcast vehicles, rooms for sports
writers to work, and associated dining, electrical
generators and the like. Note that television sat-
ellite uplink vehicles will require a view of the sky
where the satellite is located.
• Additional back-of-house areas. The need for
extra offices, waste rooms, storage, ticketing, etc.,
should not be forgotten.
These areas will require space around the stadium
and the best method is to keep the areas partly
flexible and non-specific so that it does not con-
strain the layout of temporary accommodation,
because, not only does every major event have dif-
ferent requirements, but the overlay for each event
is likely to change over time.
3.5 Security against terrorism
Unfortunately in recent years it has become nec-
essary to consider the possibility that high-profile
Masterplanning
sports activities might become the target of terror-
ists. The actual likelihood of a terrorist attack and the
possible methods that such people might use are
best known by the police, who should be consulted
at an early stage. The security arrangements of the
building should be tailored around their advice.
In general, lines for security cordons can be drawn
around the sports building, firstly for vehicles fur-
ther away from the stadium and secondly for people
as they have their tickets checked. The cordons for
staff and spectators are likely to require space for
searching of people and their belongings.
For more detail on these matters see Chapter 6.
3.6 Conclusion
The matters above represent merely the first few
decisions in a process that will ultimately involve
hundreds of design judgements. But these are con-
trolling decisions, and once they have been ratio-
nally made there should be regular checks to ensure
that the evolving design never contradicts or moves
away from them.
35