The Galpharm (formerly McAlpine) Stadium - Ground Description

From almost any angle of approach, the first glimpses are of weirdly white, skeletal arches looming above the rooftops of Huddersfield's weathered sandstone terraces or between its gasometers and chimneys. Do these incongruous white structures form part of a bridge, or perhaps a fairground ride?

Closer to, the whiteness of the arches comes sharply into focus against the trees on Kilner Bank, which rise up behind the stadium like a hazy, green backcloth. McAlpine was the original stadium name and from certain angles its setting is almost Alpine by nature.

But closer still and the stadium now cuts right into its surrounds. The familiar soft colours of a West Yorkshire townscape are now but faded pastels next to the shiny hard, metallic, almost clinical blues, yellows, reds and greys of the stands. Sapphire blue glazed bricks line the curved frontage of the main Lawrence Batley Stand, offset by yellow window details. Blue profile metal sheets hug the gentle contours of the roof, under which the vertical cladding is in plain, ribbed metal. If skies are grey the details seem cold and mechanical. Under the sun, they shine like American motorhomes.

Clearly, this is like no other stadium you have ever seen before. And yet, the more you look, the simpler it all begins to appear. So simple in fact that even an untrained eye can readily understand the structure and marvel at the sheer lightness and transparency of its design. Those dominant roof trusses, for example. Dubbed the 'banana' trusses, they are, in section, inverted triangles.

Each stand is shaped like an orange segment, and for good reason. Studies suggest that a majority of spectators prefer to watch closer to the centres of each touchline. It is also known that the optimum viewing distance for rugby and football is a 90m circle drawn from the centre of the pitch. Thus, to fit within this circle each stand assumes the shape of a slightly flattened semicircle.

There are drawbacks to this approach, however. First, the optimum-viewing circle limits the capacity. Second, it is implemented more economically by building four separate stands with the corners left open.

Airport-style Metal-clad Stadium Control Room

At Huddersfield, however, the capacity limit was no problem, while the corner gaps have been partially filled by four rather curious finger supports, which for want of a better name have been christened 'quadrapods'. Each quadrapod consists of four cigar-shaped concrete legs (two fat, two thin), towering above the circulation areas, and each fulfils two structural roles.

Most obviously they provide a base for the tapering floodlight masts, which resemble robotic giraffes watching over the pitch. Distinctive though they are, the lights are the weakest element of the stadium, probably because their original and more interesting (and more costly) curved form had to be amended late in the design. (Lamps mounted along the banana trusses would have been too low for TV cameras and spectators opposite.) Each quadrapod also serves as the base for the banana trusses on each side. Close inspection shows however, that only the two upper members of each truss are actually bolted to the concrete. The lower truss member (the third point of the triangle, as it were) left suspended, coming to a tapered point in mid-air.

This is just one example of the stadium's playful, and yet thoughtful, detailing. Others are the airport-style metal-clad stadium control room, perched in the north-west corner, and the turnstile blocks, which echo elements of the main design. Inside some of these blocks are pre-First World War, cast-iron Ellison turnstiles brought over from Leeds Road and lovingly refurbished.

The Lawrence Batley Stand contains hospitality areas in the centre, extending above the main entrance on stilts. The rugby and football clubs have offices on either side of this central core. Each also has their own dressing room, with a third dressing room used by the visitors of either code. All other facilities, including the shop, are shared.

The stand itself has two tiers and holds 8,279. In the centre a podium caters for the presentation of cups and medals, an optimistic feature but one often overlooked. There are 26 gold-framed boxes on a mid-tier, which, as is now common practice, feature sliding glass screens with seats in front so that occupants can choose to sit indoors or out (most choose out). The two end boxes are larger and have views of the River Colne to the rear of the stand. The river's location has meant that with little room on the opposite side of the site, a chunk of hillside had to be cut away to allow space for a concourse under the Kilner Bank or John Smith Stand. An 8m height piled retaining wall lines the rear of this concourse.

Holding 7,333 seats on a single tier, the Kilner Bank Stand's upper rows are built onto the hillside itself, as can be seen if one walks up a pathway directly behind the stand. This same path leads along Kilner Bank to less wooded area, where wonderful overviews of the stadium can be enjoyed. (These slopes are usually dotted with onlookers during games, just as the adjacent Dalton Bank used to be during the heyday of Leeds Road.)

When the Galpharm Stadium first opened only the two side stands were ready. The South Stand was opened three months later in December 1994. Seating 4,054, this too is built into natural banking and is the most basic of the three stands. Behind it lies a car park and a golf driving range, which with the Lawrence Batley's hospitality areas ensures that this is a stadium not solely dependent on the fortunes of its resident teams.

But the really major commercial opportunities lie at the northern end of the stadium, which until 1996 lay flat and undeveloped, hidden behind cricket sight screens, with a car park behind filling the space up to Bradley Mills Road and the site of the old Leeds Road ground.

70,000 'shiny happy people holding hands'

In the summer of 1995 a stage was set up at this end for the American band REM, a musical coup which over the course of two days brought into Huddersfield some 70,000 'shiny happy people holding hands'. The promoters were quite insistent - they came because they liked the stadium. Other events staged have included a classical concert, a VE Day Remembrance gathering, the Kirklees Festival, Centenary of the Rugby League, concerts by Bryan Adams, The Beautiful South and The Eagles and Bon Jovi.

For this reason, the 4,888 seat Panasonic Stand was built during the summer of 1996, designed to incorporate a retractable stage, plus a number of other leisure facilities, including a health club, swimming pool, small hotel and offices of Kirklees Council's Leisure Department. Part of the funding has been derived from a ten-screen multiplex cinema which is situated directly behind the new stand.

And so, in all these respects the Galpharm Stadium is truly worthy of its billing as a stadium for the 21st century, aesthetically, functionally and in terms of its management.

The stadium has also confirmed what many designers have been arguing for years. That good stadium design need not cost extra. The four stands at Huddersfield holding nearly 25,000 seats (including 254 spaces for disabled fans), plus car parks, landscaping and the golf range, cost around £28 million.

But perhaps most importantly of all, the actual design of the Galpharm Stadium itself has proved to be a selling factor.