An international company with a regional Manchester base, Laing O’ Rourke has been involved in the construction of the stadium for the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
Design practice Populous has worked with the club from the initial feasibility stages of the project and will now oversee the construction phase of the project with Laing O’Rourke.
The appointment of Laing O’ Rourke follows the full planning approval granted in February 2014 to develop the North and South stands of the stadium and to eventually increase match capacity up to around 60 000.
Following the completion of the first phase of construction, the South stand will be expanded by almost 6,000 seats, increasing the stadium capacity from 48,000 to 54,000. Moreover, the development of the North Stand is the second phase which would result in the increase of the stadium’s capacity to 60,000.
The ground engineering works will start immediately this week.
According to Glenigan, the contract, worth around £10m, will lead to the employment of 160 people throughout the construction stage of the project.
Steve Coleby, Leader for Laing O’Rourke’s Construction UK business said: “Laing O’Rourke is delighted to be expanding one of the UK’s most popular sports and leisure arenas for one of the most successful Premier League clubs.
“Our team is known for delivering logistically complex engineering work, combining expertise from across the Laing O’Rourke Group and our specialist businesses.
“This, along with our use of the latest Digital Engineering technologies, will help us to deliver efficiently with minimal disruption during match days, concerts and other events hosted throughout the year.”
Photo Source: Cnplus
