Everton Hill Dickinson
Dan Meis, the renowned architect behind the Hill Dickinson Stadium, has expressed his keen interest in spearheading a monumental project for Birmingham City. The Championship club, under the ownership of NFL legend Tom Brady and Tom Wagner from Knighthead, is planning to construct a new 62,000-capacity stadium, which could surpass the scale of Everton’s new home on the Mersey waterfront. The proposed development is part of a broader vision to create a Sports Quarter in Birmingham, featuring a sports campus and training facilities.
Dan Meis said: “Obviously there’s the Birmingham stadium project and we’re in the hunt for that.” He further elaborated on the vision, stating that a 62,000-seat stadium and a 15-20,000-capacity arena would also feature, with the aim “to host a whole range of international events not solely in football but [including] American football and rugby.”
The ambitious project is set to replace Birmingham City’s historic St Andrew’s, which has been the club’s home since 1906 and currently holds 29,409 spectators. Brady and Wagner’s Knighthead acquired the 48-acre former Birmingham Wheels motorsport site in Bordesley, located less than a mile from St Andrew’s and the city center. The council-owned site has received over £17 million from the government’s levelling up fund for remediation works, although Wagner estimates the total cost at between £2-3 billion, with hopes of opening the new stadium for the 2030/31 season.
Dan Meis told the ECHO: “It’s really an interesting challenge because I’ve been designing stadiums for something like 35 years. I’ve had incredible opportunities from being able to do the Staples Center in my hometown where my son was growing up, there was something really special about that in L.A. with the Lakers with Kobe (Bryant) and Shaq (O’Neal). But I’ve never had a project that so got in my blood, the way this did.”
Meis has been working on the Birmingham City project for several months and sees it as a unique opportunity that transcends traditional architectural endeavors. He emphasized the emotional connection and the potential to create a home rather than just a building. Meis also attended Everton’s first two matches at Hill Dickinson Stadium, which holds 52,769, against Roma and Brighton & Hove Albion.
Meis added: “There’s a lot going on in the UK in particular. Some of them I can talk about, and some of them I can’t. It’s interesting because we’re kind of in this period after Tottenham where Everton really is the only new build that we’ve seen in the last few years. It’s an interesting model I think because it’s a club that has an incredible history and it has a unique fanbase.”
The architect’s enthusiasm for the Birmingham City project highlights the potential for it to become a landmark development, not only for the club but also for the city of Birmingham. With the backing of high-profile owners and a strategic location, the project promises to redefine the sporting landscape in the region.
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