Modular venues: a permanent solution?

Whether the focus is content, consumption, ticketing or technology, sports and entertainment executives often view the quadrennial Summer Olympics as a timely barometer for various trends at the heart of the sector.

For those looking to gauge the latest shifts in stadium design and development, Paris 2024 provided particularly compelling evidence regarding the growth of modular venues.

Just 7% of Summer and Winter Olympic venues in the late 20^th Century were temporary, increasing to 14% in the 21^st Century, according to an International Olympic Committee report published in 2022.

However, times are changing in an industry that is increasingly aware of the costly impact of white elephants. Impressively, 20% of Paris 2024 venues were modular constructions as part of a commitment to ensure that 95% of the Olympics’ competition, living and working facilities would be existing or temporary.

A viable alternative

While Olympics chiefs were keen to stress the environmental credentials of such an approach, the cost- and time-saving benefits of temporary venues were also underlined by an expert panel during TheStadiumBusiness Design & Development Summit 2024. Moreover, numerous examples of successful modular developments were highlighted to show that such facilities are increasingly recognised as a viable alternative by organisations of all sizes, and all budgets.

Luton Town – which had just 10 weeks to upgrade its modest 118-year-old Kenilworth Road stadium into a venue that complied with the Premier League’s exacting broadcasting standards following the club’s promotion to English football’s top flight in 2023 – was held aloft as one such example.

Momentum Structural Engineers collaborated with ES Global, AND Architects, Civic Engineers and Capital Sky on the project – and two of the organisations were represented during the panel discussion.

“The whole project was ready to go as soon as Luton won promotion, and it was a very good collaborative story of how investing in the front end and thrashing out the feasibility can really speed up your project,” Momentum director Abigail Matthews said.

“We had to provide a gantry with clear headroom, and we wanted to minimise the places where we punched through the old stand below. We happened to know that ES Global had a three-metre deep truss, as we worked with them with it on the Tokyo 2020 shooting venue. So, we got ES Global involved, secured the truss and worked with a very collaborative groundworks contractor.”

For ES Global business development director Amy Casterton, the fast-track project provided an opportunity to “reuse our really heavy pieces and bring them back to life, which is one of our favourite things to do.”

Addressing the cost-per-seat issue

The sustainability element of modular facilities extends to project cost, as noted by Mott MacDonald project principal Jim Frayling, who commented that construction inflation and cost per seat in stadia is “something we need to address as an industry.”

Before explaining how the return on investment for modular projects is “way quicker” than permanent venues, he said: “The Luton project shows what is possible now. A modular approach is a really viable solution to the cost-per-seat-issue.”

Frayling also outlined how the reconfigurable possibilities presented by modular venues can enable operators to adapt their offering in the long term and maximise returns.

“No-one knows what’s going to be in arenas and venues in the next 10 to 20 years,” he added. “You’ve got to design in multifunctionality so you future-proof and have the ability to pivot and continue to give a quality experience. As part of that, the ability to vary capacity is really interesting.”

Economic impact

Well-executed modular venues can also produce major benefits for the local areas in which they are constructed – particularly when budgets for spectacular potential permanent facilities do not match the aspirations.

Chris Hey, project director, ABBA Voyage Arena, described the remarkable effect on the show over the past two-and-a-half years at a purpose-built modular facility in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

“It is impossible to overstate how significant ABBA Voyage has been for that area of London. It has put that area on the map from a venue perspective,” he said. “It is so positively seen by everybody in the local area.”

Casterton echoed those thoughts by saying: “You want local places to get a return on investment. If they can guarantee the programme and lock down the price more reliably – with modular offering that opportunity – then that’s good for everyone.”

The importance of having a collaborative team in place who can establish an open and honest relationship with the client was repeatedly highlighted during the discussion.

Whilst citing his company’s experience in delivering fast-track modular projects as evidence of the timeframe benefits of modular facilities, Cox Architecture director Alastair Richardson stressed that having the right people in place from early on is essential.

“The key thing is to have an integrated team right at the beginning,” he said. “That team needs to include the contractor from the beginning. In Japan, for example, contractors are involved from the very outset, and a modular approach is very important in the country – even for permanent venues.”

Delivering the vision

In closing the discussion, Casterton noted the importance of “keeping the client on track and delivering their vision,” while Richardson said that the notion of “building something and hoping something comes to it” is outdated.

“Modular venues are about building the venue around the event, and that is how you don’t get a white elephant,” Richardson added. “Cities all over the world want sporting, entertainment and cultural events, and modular construction offers a really viable way to achieve this.”

While Frayling insisted that “being humble and honest with the client” is vital in delivering a successful modular venue project, Hey agreed with Richardson that having an empowered team in place can have a “huge impact on timescale and deliverables.”

Matthews simply stated that it is vital not to overlook the engineering basics of “how the venue touches the ground” and added: “The building part is actually quite easy, but the drainage, utilities and foundations could be a show-stopper.”

It is clear that the demand for urban entertainment venues will continue to grow, with many cities across the world seeking cost-effective solutions to rejuvenate their night-time economies – a point made by Frayling during the discussion.

In this context, the perception of modularity is changing, with a greater appreciation that incorporating temporary or removable elements into a venue design does not necessarily compromise quality or the fan experience.

As we enter the second quarter of the 21^st Century, the shift towards modular design and delivery is increasingly ensuring white elephants in sports and entertainment are becoming an endangered species.