Spectators at the first major event since the rebuilding of the Olympic Stadiumleft slightly wet over the weekend while watching athletics.
The new £72m roof may look amazing, improve acoustics and create atmosphere but it also leaks in some places. Torrential Friday rain and constant rain on Sunday left many in soggy seats.
Construction firm Balfour Beatty has some work to do to make sure the roof is completely watertight before the Rugby World cup and West Ham’s move in 2016.
Perhaps of greater concern is those who got wet in the front rows of the lower tier who were unshelterd from the rain on Sunday.
I was was seating in row 7 of Section 104 in what will become the West stand and was rained on throughout the event. Although the roof in theory covers every seat, rain does not always fall vertically and the characteristics of the stadium caused light winds to blown rain into the West stand lower.
Eventually I asked stewards for a move into the upper trier to stay dry, I must say I also enjoyed view better from the upper tier.
The greater worry is the retractable seating has yet to be pushed forward an estimated 13 metres so it could get a lot worse.
By my calculations the whole of my lower section 104 would have been rained on if the seats had been pushed forward on Sunday and I am guessing the rest of the West stand my have been in a similar situation.
Time will tell whether the conditions on Sunday were unique or whether this is a design flaw and a regular problem during rain. Maybe a brolly will be provided with every West stand lower season ticket if that is the case.
It’s normal that however much the roof covers, it can’t stop the wind blowing the rain under it. It’s the same in any stadium. Some a lot worse than the OS.
Ok Sean,so i need a packed lunch,binoculars & an umbrella.Anything else i need to put in my ruck-sack? 😀
Seems to me most who are going to be season ticket holders have some sort of reservation about the OS.Well founded in many cases.But all the people who think it is going to be sooo amazing,soo fantastic,soo perfect are the ones who aint ever going to go & sit their arses on a seat there or not regularly anyway.
Does kind of seem that way sometimes but i guess if you aint ever going to go in person its easy to say it looks fantastic & will be amazing,lol 😉
That simply isn’t true judging by many who have been making positive comments about it who certainly claim to be active season ticket holders and the fact they are giving their experience of the application process at Westfield I tend to believe them. In the end only time will tell.
Well you must know a smiley happy bunch of pro OS move friends,because i know very few of my friends who dont have some sort of reservation or slight or major concerns.
I’ve not been at Upton Park sat in the lower tier during a windy, heavy downpour, but would suspect this isn’t unique to our new home… Lower tiers and particularly the front of them are always going to be prone to wind swept rain unless the roof is closable.
It still amazes me why with an almost unlimited budget for 2012 they didn’t design a building with a retractable roof, or for that matter why they don’t do it on all new football Stadia in the FAPL, that way they wouldn’t lose games in the winter and could better manage the playing surfaces not to mention they could regulate the temperature for all the winter games to ensure better conditions for the players to perform and have less days lost to weather related illnesses.