Villa Park Redevelopment

[Brazilian Villain]

A couple of my cousins are Baggies fans and for as long I've known them would mention the "lack" of atmosphere at VP although they did acknowledge that the sound doesn't seem to carry from the Holte. Was at the home game against them in 2002/03 and my uncle was ill on the morning of the game so I gave his ticket (Upper Holte) to my cousin. He managed to remain incognito but about halfway through the second-half turned to me and  said "F*ck me, it's loud in here". The Hitzlsperger winner then rounded off a very good day.

An Albion supporting colleague of mine went with a friend to see us play Wolves at home a couple of years ago.

His feedback was that he couldn't believe the atmosphere.

Imagine if they'd been at the Atletico Madrid game.

[Bad English]

Historian!

[olaftab]

Is it possible to hear some noise from the Holte?

Probably not from Castle Bromwich.

Very funny...NOT!

[FatSam]

Regarding the corners I would like to see copies of the Byzantine towers at Birmingham University. Redbrick with sandstone, great big arched windows topped with metal domes. Make each one a pavillion of Sports, Arts, Science and Faith with permanent and changing displays. Add some culture to matchdays and mark us out as the Rolls Royce of a football club we uniquely are.

I agree to an extent with the ambition of your post - the history and status of VP is one of the things that makes our club special. I worry that this has been diminished over time, through a lack of thought or understanding of what makes it special, to the point where there is a danger that only we (Villa supporters) will have any appreciation that it was the case.

I don’t think that Birmingham University is a particularly relevant precedent, but there were obviously some imposing Victorian buildings behind the Witton End, which could have informed the architecture of this stand.

I do think that the use of brick in the new design is generally a good thing, but do think that the design isn’t very distinctive. The brick is almost used by default to be ‘contextual’. I would like it to be more of a landmark on the area by virtue of it’s distinctiveness rather than simply it’s size.

My other concerns are that the new stand should be larger (as this end of the ground really is the only way to push the capacity up), and should be called the Witton End, as the North Stand is bland and generic.

[Scratchins]

A couple of my cousins are Baggies fans and for as long I've known them would mention the "lack" of atmosphere at VP although they did acknowledge that the sound doesn't seem to carry from the Holte. Was at the home game against them in 2002/03 and my uncle was ill on the morning of the game so I gave his ticket (Upper Holte) to my cousin. He managed to remain incognito but about halfway through the second-half turned to me and  said "F*ck me, it's loud in here". The Hitzlsperger winner then rounded off a very good day.

An Albion supporting colleague of mine went with a friend to see us play Wolves at home a couple of years ago.















His feedback was that he couldn't believe the atmosphere.

Imagine if they'd been at the Atletico Madrid game.

When Collymore scored it felt as though the stands went out and came back again like a cartoon. The noise was tremendous.

[Ads]

The new North is going to be absolutely massive. The CGI messes with your recall of how big the 1st and 2nd tier of the Trinity is. The away fans will be towered over, with the roof taller than the Trinity too.

[IFWaters]

I think for the Villa Park rebuild to work it has to utilise our history. Aston Villa were the first giant of world football. Our history is our identity. In that time we were the Real Madrid of that era. The ground design needs to take that DNA of redbrick late Victorian / Edwardian Birmingham. Take inspiration from the old Trinity and other local redbrick landmarks for its outer appearance. To me the design I've seen is just a red brick wall. It's the right colour and material but that's about it. The outside of the trinity needs to be redone in that way.

It would be like going to her Maj saying we're going to rebuild Windsor castle in the style of a large Aldi. Sacrilege!

[Rory]

I think for the Villa Park rebuild to work it has to utilise our history. Aston Villa were the first giant of world football. Our history is our identity. In that time we were the Real Madrid of that era. The ground design needs to take that DNA of redbrick late Victorian / Edwardian Birmingham. Take inspiration from the old Trinity and other local redbrick landmarks for its outer appearance. To me the design I've seen is just a red brick wall. It's the right colour and material but that's about it. The outside of the trinity needs to be redone in that way.

It would be like going to her Maj saying we're going to rebuild Windsor castle in the style of a large Aldi. Sacrilege!

To be fair, I think trying to imitate too closely Victorian/Edwardian architecture with modern materials could well end up tacky and a bit like a theme park. I like the pictures, personally.

Just my opinion.

[IFWaters]

I think for the Villa Park rebuild to work it has to utilise our history. Aston Villa were the first giant of world football. Our history is our identity. In that time we were the Real Madrid of that era. The ground design needs to take that DNA of redbrick late Victorian / Edwardian Birmingham. Take inspiration from the old Trinity and other local redbrick landmarks for its outer appearance. To me the design I've seen is just a red brick wall. It's the right colour and material but that's about it. The outside of the trinity needs to be redone in that way.

It would be like going to her Maj saying we're going to rebuild Windsor castle in the style of a large Aldi. Sacrilege!

To be fair, I think trying to imitate too closely Victorian/Edwardian architecture with modern materials could well end up tacky and a bit like a theme park. I like the pictures, personally.

Just my opinion.

Ok but when Rolls Royce build a new car it's still a Rolls Royce. It still looks the part because of its design DNA and because the designers are trying to build the best car possible. Same with Villa Park. It should leave other fans speechless due to its stature, quality and size. This just looks like a bit of brick cladding. Tacky. Same as everybody else. Not good enough.

[Rory]

I think for the Villa Park rebuild to work it has to utilise our history. Aston Villa were the first giant of world football. Our history is our identity. In that time we were the Real Madrid of that era. The ground design needs to take that DNA of redbrick late Victorian / Edwardian Birmingham. Take inspiration from the old Trinity and other local redbrick landmarks for its outer appearance. To me the design I've seen is just a red brick wall. It's the right colour and material but that's about it. The outside of the trinity needs to be redone in that way.

It would be like going to her Maj saying we're going to rebuild Windsor castle in the style of a large Aldi. Sacrilege!

To be fair, I think trying to imitate too closely Victorian/Edwardian architecture with modern materials could well end up tacky and a bit like a theme park. I like the pictures, personally.

Just my opinion.

Ok but when Rolls Royce build a new car it's still a Rolls Royce. It still looks the part because of its design DNA and because the designers are trying to build the best car possible. Same with Villa Park. It should leave other fans speechless due to its stature, quality and size. This just looks like a bit of brick cladding. Tacky. Same as everybody else. Not good enough.

I know what you mean. Just think we need to be careful not to end up looking like a cross between Disneyland & the Black Country Museum.

[Risso]

I don’t think anyone is left open mouthed in admiration by the current North stand or the Witton are they?

[CT Villan]

BREAKING NEWS...

"Given Steven Gerrard's current performances as manager, Aston Villa has taken the difficult decision to cut back on the redevelopment plans for Villa Park. The North stand rebuild will be postponed, however we are delighted to reveal the reworked plans for Villa Live..."

[Rory]

I don’t think anyone is left open mouthed in admiration by the current North stand or the Witton are they?

I'm often dumbstruck by the amount of pigeon shit smeared down the back of the North. Does that count?

[Villafirst]

With a probable relegation scrap this season, will the hierarchy delay their plans? A 50,000+ stadium in the Championship beckons with Gerrard in charge!

[Dogtanian]

Well I can imagine attendances will ease a little as a lot of people get put off.

But, you’d expect them to back themselves to sort things out on the pitch and they know the support is there if they do.

Remember, it will take time with a reduced capacity to build the new one. The cap of 30k season ticket holders I’d imagine leaves them with enough capacity to rehome those from the North while it’s rebuilt. And so they have two years really to get things sorted before they need to worry about the new capacity.