Stadium Expansion - Bushey Hall

Discussion in 'The Hornets' Nest - Watford Chat' started by Stevohorn, Jul 13, 2019.

?

For or against a new stadium at Bushey (see post #558)

  1. For

    102 vote(s)
    59.0%
  2. Against

    71 vote(s)
    41.0%
  1. scummybear

    scummybear Reservist

    Here's one I made earlier:

    [​IMG]GT Stand Improvement, on Flickr
     
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  2. Stevohorn

    Stevohorn Watching Grass Grow

    Yes not my most involved rendering.. but it served it's purpose :)


    That pic brings up a couple of more things about the stadium. Firstly how much space there is in front of the GT stand.. and just how much the end stands overlap the pitch. If we were ever to build substantial corner sections we would have to remove a whole block of seats to start the curve of the corner section.
     
  3. Cthulhu

    Cthulhu Keyboard Warrior Staff Member

    1993? 83?
     
  4. Stevohorn

    Stevohorn Watching Grass Grow

    September 1993. It was opened at the same time as the new Vic Road stand.
     
  5. Stevohorn

    Stevohorn Watching Grass Grow

    Anyway back to the subject. Ive took the liberty to add the two extra front rows to Scummybears excellent rendering. I also noticed the risers are higher in the upper tier and extension. If this is to scale.. and it looks it..then i would suggest a single tiered stand would have around the same capacity as the current one. Possibly more if the pitch level problem could be overcome.

    upload_2019-8-4_14-41-11.png
     
  6. scummybear

    scummybear Reservist

    Yep, if I remember correctly I traced over a planning drawing for one of the more recent developments, so it should be pretty accurate. I think potentially the slope could be reduced enough to fit in an extra row, assuming there's enough space across the width of the pitch. It'd look better, but I doubt the capacity increase would be enough to cover the construction costs any time soon.
     
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  7. Abso

    Abso First Year Pro

    The other thing both yourself and steveo have not included is row 15. Which at the moment is just a footwell and a wall at the front of the upper gt. This would become a seated row also.
     
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  8. Stevohorn

    Stevohorn Watching Grass Grow

    Indeed.. hadnt thought of that one. Another row for the single deckers!

    I took another liberty with Scummy's design (hope he dont mind) and thought about what would happen if you made a single deck but with the same riser height as the lower tier.. which is tighter.
    So weve now got 5 extra rows & a concourse underneath. There's a catch though... the front rows would be past the roof-line so it wold need to be extended, as i have done so.


    upload_2019-8-4_16-30-59.png
     
  9. Cthulhu

    Cthulhu Keyboard Warrior Staff Member

    I’m sure you are right. I wo t even bother looking it up, **** I feel old now
     
  10. Abso

    Abso First Year Pro

    Anyone ever notice that we put in for a second tier 3 years ago for the SEJ stand but it was removed, and that you cant see the plans at all?
     

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  11. Stevohorn

    Stevohorn Watching Grass Grow

    Was that the same time when a rendering of the outside was posted on twitter? It had red struts all the way down. It was nothing official i dont believe but no one knew where it had originated.

    Did anyone keep a pic?
     
  12. UEA_Hornet

    UEA_Hornet First Team Captain

    I can't even find that planning application online when I search for the reference number. Is it legit?
     
  13. Abso

    Abso First Year Pro

    Yeah its on there. Go to related cases and select vicarage road. From there you can look at all previous applications against the address. I have the pic of the external rendering somewhere. I think i posted it on the old stadium expansion thread as well.
     
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  14. Bowwow

    Bowwow Academy Graduate

    stevohorn can you PM me please ..!
     
  15. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    That would make sense. Having another tier above existing seats is a good way to double capacity without raising the roof.

    Of course this would mean extending the SEJ stand backwards, but there is scope to do that. The gradient of original seating would reduce, but then it is unnaturally steep right now so wouldn't be a problem.

    After all this work has been completed I estimate the stadium could be around 27,000. That's quite an impressive usage of space without causing disruption to the height of existing stands.

    As I mentioned previously, the pitch could be levelled and this would create more space at the base of the VR stand to add maybe 2 or 3 more rows right across. So I could see, in future, the stadium could be around the 27,500 mark once every square foot of space is used up.

    Currently the stadium seating consists of:

    Vicarage Road - 5796
    Rookery - 6960
    SEJ - 3728 + 3616 = 7344
    GT - 5771
    New corners: 1,000 (guestimate)

    Total: 26,871

    I'm suggesting levelling the pitch may provide 500/700 extra seats. That could raise the total to 27,500.
     
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2019
  16. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

    When you say there is ‘scope to do that’ in terms of extending the SEJ backwards, have you considered the impact on Occupation Road and the increased numbers of fans on an already overpopulated area?

    It might be possible but I don’t think it’s as cut and dried as just doing it.
     
  17. Bowwow

    Bowwow Academy Graduate

    It looks like another tier on the SEJ stand
     

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  18. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    I'm not suggesting building on Occupation Road, but there is clearly scope to build backwards from the current footprint. Can't find any photos, but I've seen the gap between the turnstile and the stand is quite large.

    I'm sure there is a better photo online, but here you can see where the grey roof ends and the fences where the turnstiles are. It's quite wide, so I'm sure that can be build on if required to do so.

    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
     
  19. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

    Yes I know there’s a gap but personally (and that’s all it is!) I’d still be confused how you can add a whole tier’s worth of fans to the already crowded area post-game. The club would need to re-think how they control the flow of fans in and out of that area dramatically as I already think it’s too populated even before adding more fans.
     
  20. UEA_Hornet

    UEA_Hornet First Team Captain

    I'm probably missing something but what in that photo makes you think that?
     
  21. Bowwow

    Bowwow Academy Graduate

    four executive boxes just put in the SEJ stand . Probably why the seats are put in the SE corner, same design as the Graham Taylor stand.
     
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  22. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    I don't think that's something that would stop them from increasing the capacity.

    A couple of simple steps could easily be used. You could have staggered exiting or a big gate at either end of the SEJ stand, one at VR and one at the other end. You don't need people walking up or down Occupation Road after the match. That can be easily eradicated with careful planning.
     
  23. Stevohorn

    Stevohorn Watching Grass Grow

    I did.. you didnt answer :)
     
  24. Malthemighty

    Malthemighty Academy Graduate

    Based on the new boxes going in to the SEJ stand it might be reasonable to think any expansion would consist of: a full stand-wide set of exec boxes with a second tier that cantilevers partly over the lower tier (like the GT) and also backwards as far as the planners will allow.
     
  25. Stevohorn

    Stevohorn Watching Grass Grow

    Like this..

    upload_2019-8-5_13-8-32.png


    A mate of mine rendered this. Not sure how accurate he was on dimensions but i see he based it on photographs. Shows how tall the stand would be if you continued at the same rake as the current one. This is barely half the deck size again and it's towering over the other stands, though you could reduce the back wall height a bit (and/or not include the boxes) If you reduced the rake to keep the roofs the same height i think you would be building over occupation Road and you'd need some sort of tunnel arrangement.
     
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  26. R4E

    R4E Reservist

    I would have thought an additional tier would overhang the current stand more - mainly to avoid having to be so tall/go back so far?
     
  27. Stevohorn

    Stevohorn Watching Grass Grow

    Some photos of the current works sent to me by Bowwow.. more to follow.


    IMG_0157.jpg IMG_0159.jpg IMG_0162.jpg IMG_0165.jpg
     
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  28. Stevohorn

    Stevohorn Watching Grass Grow

    and some more..

    Capture.JPG Capture2.JPG Capture3.JPG
     
  29. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

  30. Stevohorn

    Stevohorn Watching Grass Grow

    Yeah i didnt ask him when they were taken. But if it was today we better start packing our buckets & spades for Saturday!
    I guess the corner building work doesnt interfere with matchday.. but those GT extensions certainly will, with all that scaffolding.
     
  31. Bowwow

    Bowwow Academy Graduate

    They were taken today..!
     
  32. Eastcoastorn

    Eastcoastorn First Year Pro

    The Vic Rd stand was 5800 when first built but has since been reduced. Guessing it’s around 4500 now?
     
  33. AndrewH63

    AndrewH63 Reservist

    That is a very good point. I sit in the Lower GT and normally exit through the Rookery turnstiles, the allotments pathway and down to Thomas Sawyer Way. On one occasion i was going back to town to get a train from Watford Junction. i made the mistake of walking through the Rookery and up Occupation road. It was very crowded and extremely slow way to get up to Vicarage Road. If they needed to dedicate Occupation road as a pedestrian route for the SEJ after the game. That option would need a pedestrian access from the Rookery to go behind the Graham Taylor stand. But that looks extremely difficult before a redevelopment of the hospital.
     
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2019
  34. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    Yes...it's reduced because of the segregation of home and away fans, but the seats are still there to be used if they find another place to put away fans. Personally I'd put them in the lower SEJ if they redevelop that into a two tier stand.

    An alternative is to erect a more permanent separator between home and away fans in the VR stand so all seats can be used.
     
  35. AndrewH63

    AndrewH63 Reservist

    Those extra rows bolted on to the Upper GT. I wonder if they are press seats rather than corporate hospitality extra seating? Where do the press sit, is it in the SEJ?
     

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