RLB, T&T Alinea and Populous all working on scheme RFU eventually hopes will see ground stage more shows in future
The Rugby Football Union has warned it could take England out of London if Richmond council does not grant it permission to stage more non-rugby events at Twickenham.
The RFU wants to revamp the ground, now renamed the Allianz stadium, under ambitious plans to improve transport links, reduce capacity to improve spectator comfort and stage up to 15 concerts a year – five times the stadium’s current permitted amount.
Building revealed that among the consultants drafted in to work on the plans are project manager RLB, architect Populous and QS T&T Alinea.
The RFU is planning to spend more than £650m upgrading the 82,000 seat stadium and wants to stage up to 15 concerts a year to help bankroll the work which is set to start after the 2027 Six Nations finishes in the spring.
In a document on its Twickenham plans published earlier this month, the RFU said: “Of the concerts that are held here, two events are required to take place on Saturdays and no single act is allowed to perform across three consecutive days. These restrictions make it difficult to attract top global artists. As a result, Allianz stadium has missed opportunities to host world-renowned performers in recent years – at a time when the concert industry is booming.”
It said it recently missed out on hosting lucrative Beyoncé concerts at the stadium because of licensing restrictions.
Beyonce is playing six shows at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in June with that ground allowed to host 30 non-football events a year and Wembley 32.
“Part of the renovation from 2027 means we are in discussions with Richmond borough council to stage more non-rugby events. For us it is three [events] and we are only allowed one on a Friday,” chief executive Bill Sweeney told the Business of Sport podcast. “We have had the Rolling Stones. We could have had Beyoncé but she wanted three nights and we are only allowed two nights consecutively.
“We are saying: ‘If we are going to invest £600m into the Allianz [Stadium, Twickenham’s sponsored name] – and we have a study which shows how much economic value it contributes to the borough – if we’re going to do that, you are going to have to work with us in terms of an increase in the number of events we can stage in order to monetise the stadium.’ There are plenty of places that would like to have us there. Birmingham, Milton Keynes would love to have us there.”
The ground was last upgraded in 2006 when Mowlem, later bought by Carillion, completed work to bring capacity up to its current level.
Others working on the plans include transport and civils consultant WSP, fire engineer Arup, planning consultant DP9, M&E engineer Griffiths Evans, landscape architect Planit and buildability consultant JDP London. Simply CDM is the principal designer.
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