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The Kingston Communications stadium has won the region's top award for Excellence in Structural Design.
The accolade from the Institution of Structural Engineers’ Yorkshire branch recognises the success of the stadium as a building which combines outstanding structural engineering with a spectacular, iconic design.
Competition for the award came from a number of other high profile projects in Yorkshire, including the XScape Ski Centre at Glass Houghton and the visitor centre at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
But the stadium was judged to provide the winning formula in terms of its overall design, fitness for purpose, speed of construction and value for money.
The judges were particularly impressed with the stadium’s dramatic asymmetric bowl, a feature unique among UK stadia, which ensures excellent views from every seat. The elegance of the stadium, including the A-shape roof supports towering high over West Park, also caught the eye of the judges. Each is designed to carry a weight equivalent to 10,000 people.
The stadium’s ability to cater for different types of events was also highlighted, including its capacity to deal with the sway and movement of audiences watching pop and rock concerts.
Hull City Council’s Stadium Project Manager, John Topliss, said the award highlighted that the stadium had been designed and built to the highest standards:
“The aim was for the stadium to be a spectacular design that would be associated worldwide with the city of Hull. I am sure this will be the first of many awards confirming this has been achieved. The judges were impressed by the innovation and attention to detail in the design and by the fact that it has really caught the public’s imagination.”
Jon Carr from Anthony Hunt Associates, structural engineers on the project, added: “We always believed that the stadium was a great design and it was fantastic to see the reactions of people on the opening night, which confirmed that it has the ‘wow’ factor so often lacking in today’s buildings. We are delighted that this has now been recognised formally.”
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