First glimpse at how Leeds United's Elland Road expansion might look as Liverpool, Man City and Olympic projects revealed — YEP 25/9/24
By Joe Donnohue
Leeds United have begun working alongside stadium specialist
architectural firm KSS ahead of plans to increase Elland Road's capacity by
15,000 additional seats.
Leeds announced earlier this week plans to bring Elland
Road's capacity to 53,000, enlisting the help of various engineering and
architectural firms to help realise one of 49ers Enterprises' main aims since
assuming majority control of the club.
In a statement released by the club, Leeds confirmed their
'key ambitions' for the project, including: modernising and improving stadium
capacity from 37,645 to roughly 53,000, significantly increasing the
availability of general admission seating, making Elland Road the seventh
largest club stadium in the country and retaining the stadium's 'unique'
atmosphere.
Other core objectives included a 'phased approach to
construction' which would allow Leeds to limit the loss of seating capacity in
the West and North Stands during the project, which will bring the ground into
UEFA Category 4 status, alongside Europe's elite stadiums.
Architectural firm and experts in stadium development KSS
were confirmed as project partners for the ambitious undertaking with the
company having worked previously on Liverpool's redevelopment of Anfield, the
construction of Brighton and Hove Albion's American Express Community Stadium,
as well as works on various training grounds (Leicester City, Crystal Palace,
Tottenham Hotspur) and at Wembley Stadium.
KSS are expected to design the as yet unreleased plans for
Elland Road's expansion, however artist impressions of the Anfield Road Stand
development on Merseyside ahead of its 2022 completion appear incredibly true
to form. Therefore, Leeds supporters can take encouragement from the fact that
when visuals are released, the design put forth - after consultation with
supporters and local bodies - will be realised to a high degree of accuracy.
Leicester's KSS-designed state-of-the-art Seagrave training
facility is among the most impressive in the country and won the 'Project of
the Year Award' at the Stadium Business Summit in 2021, following its
completion the previous year.