Headingley Stadium - North & South stands

The redevelopment at Headingley involved a unique design with a double faced sports stand that will work for both Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the Super League club, Leeds Rhinos. This created a unique set of challenges including public safety and access for those with disabilities. Also both sports had unique requirements for what they wanted for the new stand which meant it would not be an identical layout.

The 145 foot long double sided stand will accommodate 3,800 spectators on the north side for the rugby, and on the south side for cricket it will hold 7,700 supporters in a 3 tier structure, which continues the seating profile around the rest of the stadium to complete the bowl. In addition, both sides will include new facilities for visitors such as bars, toilets and concessions areas, on multiple levels. A distinctive vaulted roof was designed for the cricket stand enabling a continuous and panoramic view of the pitch.

Work on the development began with the demolition of the existing south stand and one of the main challenges was fitting in the work around the cricket and rugby fixtures. Every two weeks the construction company had to decamp from the site and clear away machinery and make it a safe space, with barriers, PA systems and fire safety equipment, for spectators. Caddick construction were able to open a portion of the lower standing tier of the new south stand, while the upper was being completed.

Hambleton Steel project managed the design, fabrication and erection all structural steelwork elements of the stadium. The largest steel elements were a series of 29m long fully galvanised rafters that create the cantilevering roof of the new south stand.

Product Description

Work on this project included the South Stand, a cantilever roof over the Rugby Stand and North Stand, and a cantilever roof over Rugby and Cricket Stands. On the pavilion the work included the link between existing East Stand and new North Stand. We provided metal decking, lewis deck, metal work, installation only of PCC Terrace Units, Steps, Stairs and Wall Units.

Value Engineering

During installation we noticed that the cantilever roof showed signs of bending over further than it should have been. Our design team provided a solution by redistributing forces beyond the elastic limit through meticulous calculation and advanced simulation techniques to assess how the frame responds under various loading scenarios, aiming to maintaining structural stability.