Manchester City Football Club Fan Pavilion

Fabric Architecture Ltd.

Manchester City Football Club fans are at the heart and soul of the club. The development of a covered Fan Pavilion outside the existing stadium was key to being able to offer a greater fan experience. The Fan Pavilion was to include a large, eye-catching canopy covering new bar and café areas. In addition, the Conic Canopy serves as a landmark entrance to the stadium, offering wayfinding and a dry place for fans to eat, drink and participate in pre- and post-match activities. An essential part of the brief was the ability to turn the project around within a very small time frame, ready for the start of the 2010-2011 season.

The organic fabric shape of the structure enhances the architecture of the existing stadium, creating a modern and visually stunning Fan Pavilion and entrance feature for the Football Club. This five-bay, six conic bespoke walkway pavillion canopy measures 64 meters by 22 meters. The canopy features integrated lighting and rainwater management systems. An intricate series of booms and framework allowed for minimal masts. This creates a space that is easy to navigate for fans. The finite element analysis and patterning was particularly complex given all conics are interconnected. The patterning is visually stunning from underneath. The company was able to reduce fabric off-cuts, maximizing rolls of fabric.

The new bespoke Pavilion Canopy has been a big hit for the Football Club, and in a short period of time it has generated excellent results for the club. Results include a greater fan experience, increased ticket sales, more families attending home matches, fan loyalty, increased revenue from food and beverage sales, increased revenue from merchandising and additional PR exposure. One dedicated fan said of the new canopies: “I now arrive before the match because it feels more like a festival […] It’s something different and it's more family-oriented. The canopies are perfect for a wet day and in England, and that is often.” The Football Club was so pleased with the Pavilion Canopy that they have requested an additional canopy as a mirrored copy to the current one to expand the Fan Zone. They asked our company to add a bespoke Stage Tensile Fabric Structure for outdoor entertainment (under a roof). In addition, a canopy over the entrance to the metro, where fans will enter and exit from the rail system, is being installed June 2011. It’s fair to say that Manchester City loves Tensile Fabric Structures and is experiencing significant return on investment.

Project details

Location: Manchester, UK
Size: 1,408 sq.m
Fabrics: Type III Architectural Coated Polyester PVC by Serge Ferrari North America Inc.
Architect: BDP