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Exclusive: Populous Interview

Populous is a global design practice, formerly known as HOK Sport Venue Event, established in 2009 following a management buyout and separation from the HOK Group of St. Louis, Missouri - the first truly global sports architecture firm (following its merger with international firm LOBB Sports in 1999).

Over its first 26 years in existence, Populous has designed nearly 1,000 projects and events around the globe. These projects include: Soccer City Stadium, South Africa (for the 2010 Football World Cup); Yankee Stadium, New York; Sydney Olympic Stadium; Wimbledon LTC redevelopment, Emirates Stadium, Wembley Stadium, London; Millennium Stadium, Cardiff; Aviva Stadium, Dublin and the new Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit. Populous is also currently the Official Architectural and Overlay Design Services Provider to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games as well as architects of the Olympic Stadium, London.

The firm has offices in London; Brisbane; New York; Rio; Hong Kong; Singapore; Auckland; Knoxville; Nashville; Denver; and Kansas City.

Following the recent unveiling of their first major project in Scotland - Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility - Senior Populous Architects Tom Jones and Tim Reeves took time out to speak to Caroline Ednie about designing sport for the 21^st century; risky re-branding; and whether Populous are one of the few 'recession-proof' practices out there?

Caroline Ednie: HOK Sport has been a recognised global organisation for a number of years now. Why did the company feel that a re-branding exercise was important? And wasn't this a risky strategy?

Tom Jones: "It's worth looking back at the history of the company to provide a context to our recent re-branding. Back in the 1940's and 1950's the LOBB Partnership in the UK got into sports architecture through racecourse design and eventually became LOBB sport architecture. In parallel with this HOK developed their own sports group in Kansas City around 25 years ago and both companies found themselves competing against each other with major sports contracts. Around the time of our work on the Sydney Olympics in 2000 the senior principals of both practices got together and suggested that we get together to form a global brand specializing in sport and entertainment and that became HOK Sport Architecture.

A couple of years ago the HOK parent company indicated their intention to lead into a new direction focusing on commercial, airport and hospital buildings. We were very keen to try and develop an identity that was a bit less influenced by being under American corporation. HOK Sport Architecture gave us a corporate identity that we didn't feel was particularly accurate as we've always seen ourselves as a design focused company. So re-branding to Populous we felt was a great opportunity to help re-define people's perception of us.

What precipitated the choice of 'Populous' as a brand/moniker?

When the buyout with HOK was agreed, we approached a branding agency from Texas called Milkshake - you may know them for being responsible for the Lance Armstrong yellow bracelet for Live Strong? The company worked closely with us on getting to the bottom of what we believed our brand was and that's how the whole Populous name and ethos evolved. It was an exciting process as well as a huge risk. I mentioned to the guys at Milkshake that: 'I hope you realise that the success of this name will make or break a global company!' We were aware of the pitfalls - such as the re-branding of the Post Office as Insignia?

I think it was a brave decision not to have the words Sport or Architecture in our name. But we liked the sense of communities coming together, and it's this idea that defines Populous. We felt excited by it as an office. In the two years since we've been Populous I think we've also responded to this concept - I think it has affected the way we look at people and design spaces for them.

How can you avoid designing generically, being such a huge global company?

Within the architectural world there are a lot of black caped architects or 'starchitects' - or however you want to describe them. They have a distinctive style, but we don't have that. We don't have one person designing our buildings. Everyone from the most junior year out student to the most senior principle contributes to the design discussion. Within our regional offices we also have the opportunity to reflect on local conditions. Some people criticise us because we don't have a Populous style but if you look at our most recent stadia such as Soccer City in South Africa (2010 World Cup venue); the Aviva Stadium in Dublin; and the 2012 Olympic Stadium, they are all very different buildings but in their own way they respond to their context, local conditions and climate. We approach each piece of design as a bespoke piece of design. Each client, scale, and location is different so our philosophy is that each building should be different in response to these criteria.

The role of sport, and the experience of sport, seems to be fulfilling an increasingly important role for many people these days? How is sports design evolving with its new audiences?

If you look at the not too distant past, when I started going to football matches myself, stadia were very functional sheds surrounding a strip of turf with very basic facilities - usually just toilets and pie shops. When you compare these to the stadia of today, which are great pieces of design, with a lot of focus on what we call the 'event experience'. The new stadia are not only about the experience of being in the buildings but also travelling to and from the stadium. Comfortable facilities, good food and drink and such like are now key elements in stadium design.

Wembley Stadium
Images: exterior Hufton + Crow / interior Fisher Hart

Is it a recent phenomenon that sports building's are increasingly seen as catalysts for major regeneration projects?

We worked with Foster + Partners on the new Wembley Stadium. Everyone loved the old Wembley, with its twin towers and its romantic associations. But in terms of a sports stadium, internal views were poor due to the columns. Facilities were also very basic, so it wasn't too much of a surprise when it was pulled down. This is where buildings began to move away from being functional sheds into being pieces of design in their own right. I've used this example as this was just about the individual building or arena.

But more recently these buildings are starting to act as catalysts for urban regeneration or other developments. In the US there has been a trend to move sports facilities to the periphery - to out of town sites. But in the UK we've been really excited about the buildings that are in the heart of the city. The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff is a great example of how the city becomes alive when a Six Nations Rugby game is on. The way in which these buildings add vibrancy and diversity to an area is really exciting.

When we were working with Arsenal on the Emirates Stadium we initially looked at sites outside London. But gradually we pulled back and looked in and around the area of Highbury - it was a pretty unattractive site (a triangular site with industrial units and railway lines at either side). But the more we looked at it and had discussions with the local council, the more we could see that putting a new stadium in the area could help the regeneration of the area.

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Images: Populous

The Emirates has been a real stadium success story hasn't it?

Arsenal FC were wonderful clients. They were open to negotiations with the local council and looking at the bigger picture of the area. As a result a masterplan was developed that was a lot bigger than originally intended. It ended up including new housing around the edge of the new stadium, a relocation of an existing waste reprocessing unit - in fact a masterplan that covered a whole area of Highbury and Islington, almost double the size of the stadium project itself. So Arsenal eventually undertook a project that was twice as big as initially intended. The payback in the longer period would be the value of the surrounding housing and the conversion of the old Highbury Stadium into flats.

It's not just the development site that the club has undertaken that's had an impact. It's now possible to see four or five years down the line that it's had a knock on effect, where other private developments are taking place in response to the increased desirability of the site. It's an interesting thing to see, this evolution taking place.

O2 Arena was the other project that we did after the Emirates. As the Millennium Dome it sat there empty for many years without having a use. By inserting the Arena within it, it's really activated that whole peninsula. It's been the world's biggest selling ticket venue for the last three years. The Tate Modern, O2 Arena, Emirates and Olympic Park have contributed hugely to the redevelopment of these parts of the city.

Emirates Stadium
Images: Hufton + Crow

Can you describe your involvement in the current London 2012 Olympics?

This is by far the biggest project that we've been involved in.

In terms of the London Olympics the current team were actually involved in putting together the original proposal. As a company what we've done is developed a range of services, and one of these is an events group that puts bids together for major events. So, we've been involved (with others in the consortium) in the masterplan and writing the briefs for the individual venues. We're also working on the Olympic Arena and we're responsible for the overlay - this is in areas such as the media, accreditation, security, temporary facilities and such like. We have a team covering all of the Olympic venues - it's a very broad reach.

The public consultation on the Olympic Stadium was by some margin the biggest consultation exercise that we have been involved in. Normally we have discussions with planners and make presentations to interesting parties. In this case the ODA organized a series of public consultations in town halls and school halls to present the stadium design. The main concerns so far perhaps seem to be focused more around the Olympic Park and access to and from the Park during and after the Games. The legacy masterplan, jobs for people, and the training schemes that the ODA has set up - rather than the stadium itself - seems to have generated more discussion within the community.

(The Populous brief for the Olympic Stadium was for a stadium that could be reduced from 80,000 to 25,000 seats after the Games. As a result a ?cut and fill" approach has been adopted that would enable a permanent, landscaped bowl to be formed within the earth for the 25,000 permanent seats, with a separate temporary structure for 55,000 temporary seats above. This effectively segregates the athletes and media from the spectators, who are afforded level access across the bridges and straight into the stadium. Spectator facilities are concentrated in self-contained 'pods' around the stadium, a design decision that allows the scale and mass of the building to be dramatically reduced with the knock on effect of a more intimate seating bowl, with spectators much closer to the track than in comparable stadia).

In terms of the legacy, the deadline for organisations interested in taking over the Olympic Stadium after the London 2012 Olympics passed on the 30^th September with expressions of interest received from West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur Football Clubs.

London 2012 Olympic Stadium
Images: Populous

On a local level, one of your latest projects is the new Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility. Can you explain how you came to be involved in this development?

Tim Reeves: Ravenscraig is our first completed project in Scotland. The original project competition was held back in 2003-2004. This building and Motherwell College, which is at the other end of the site, are seen as the catalysts for the regeneration of Ravenscraig. They act as fulcrums around which the rest of the development can be channelled. However, due to the current economic climate the rest of the town's development has been slightly delayed. But Phase Two of the Ravenscraig regeneration - which involves new housing, retail and the rest of town centre - will provide the two buildings with the correct context. They need a community around them to become the buildings that they ought to be.

One of the key reasons that North Lanarkshire Council and Leisure Services came to us was that they wanted to make a statement. The building was to be an important national building, not a standard sports building. The aim was to start with a high watermark and hopefully this would trickle down to the design of the future developments. It's a statement of intent.

Can you describe your approach to providing a 'high watermark' of design?

In order to maintain the industrial nature and heritage of the site, its cladding has been designed as metal bands that rise from out of the ground to wrap around the structure, and are a visual reminder, reminiscent of rolled metal sheets of the steel industry, that has still has such a strong presence in the area. But being a public funded building resources were finite so the actual construction of the building uses a very standard fabrication, used in the likes of IKEA or out of town warehouses and shopping centres. But it takes the standard construction and uses it in an exceptional way to give us the exaggerated form that we required. Click here to read about the project in greater detail

Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility
Images: Andrew Lee

This building is one of a number of regional sports facilities coming on stream over the next few years that follow the Sports Scotland initiative, the main purpose of which is the wider health of the Scottish populous and getting kids playing sports again. But they also have a dual role as training centres for elite athletes. Ravenscraig is all about this mixture of people within the facility where people can combine and learn off each other. The idea is to have an openness and visibility and shared experience. And this has informed the design in the way that from the athletics hall there are views through to the football hall and the football hall in turn opens up to the café above. There are athlete interaction zones within the changing facilities - it’s all about openness between the different activities and the public.

Have you worked on a sports building of this specific nature before?

This one of our first regional sports facilities and the size and scale of this is fairly new. sportscotland has in the last five years been generating the brief for this type of facility, and as a result these sports buildings coming on stream with national level facilities. So in this building there are facilities for athletics, badminton, football, and dance, all within the same area and this is quite unique. It took a new way of thinking about how to combine these into one space. It’s different from a leisure centre, which has one or two halls, with lower level training. It’s also different from National Centres for Excellence, which are normally devoted to one sport with a higher level of training. This facility combines different sports at a high level. It’s an interesting initiative by sportscotland.

We consulted the users and the various sports bodies in Scotland to come up with this design. We enjoyed the Ravenscraig brief particularly in that this is an iconic building that would set the design bar. There was a level of aspiration that was higher then we often get. and it was challenging, which is what we like!”

Sport related architecture seems to be one of the only building sectors not currently hit by the current economic downturn. Is Populous one of the only architectural firms that can currently call itself recession proof?!

Tom Jones: Not sure if we’re recession proof, but we’ve been very fortunate in that the 2012 Olympics is a major help in weathering a very difficult storm for designers and contractors alike. We’re also lucky in that the cyclical nature of sporting events - on a global, national, local level - seem to throw up a lot of work in this area. I guess we hope that the projects we’ve done and the experience that we have means that we’ll continue to appeal."