The architectural design team behind the London Olympic Stadium, London based Populous, has been appointed to work on the redevelopment of Casement Park GAA stadium in west Belfast.
The venue is being redeveloped into a modern 40,000 seat facility with planning permission expected to be submitted in March 2013 and completion of all works in 2015.
The overall cost of the redevelopment is expected to be around £75 million (€94 million) with 20% of the money coming from the GAA and 80% from the UK Treasury as part of a major investment in Northern Ireland’s sporting infrastructure.  Windsor Park and Ravenhill are also undergoing major upgrading as part of the overall plan.
Minister Chairman of the Stadium Project Board, Tom Daly, said the announcement marked “the culmination of an intensive period of work over the past twelve months”.
“The challenge is to now work in partnership with the community, all strands of the GAA and the statutory stakeholders to ensure that the vision for this magnificent new stadium for the GAA in Ulster can be achieved on time, within budget and to the highest quality standards, said Chairman of the Stadium Project Board, Tom Daly.
“These are exciting times for the GAA as they embark on one of the largest and most significant projects since the redevelopment of Croke Park,” added Northern Ireland Sports Minister Caral Ni Chuilin.
Populous also worked on the Aviva Stadium, Soccer City in Johannesburg and Livestrong Park in Kansas which is recognised as providing the best fan experience wifi of any sporting venue in the world.  They were previously known as HOK Sport and will work alongside  Consarc Design Group and engineers Mott MacDonald.
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