The United Kingdom’s first all-electric football stadium will be built for Oxford United, with the project also set to encourage sustainable transport and greater biodiversity.
The stadium will seat 16,000, and the site will feature an events space, hotel, and community plaza.
“This project is more than a stadium – it is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure the future of Oxford’s only professional club, and deliver lasting social benefits for Oxford’s communities at the same time,” said Ridge and Partners planning partner Giles Brockbank.
Environmental consultancy Ridge developed the project alongside architecture firm AFL Architects.
“As the first all-electric stadium in the UK, it will operate entirely on renewable energy, integrating 3,500 square metres of roof-mounted photovoltaic panels to help reduce the impact on the national grid during matchdays. An air-source heat pump and energy efficient building fabric will remove the need for carbon-based fuels and provide an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions per year compared with gas boilers,” according to Ridge.
The project’s planning application has been approved by Cherwell District Council, and will now be referred to the U.K.'s government, as it would be built within a green belt area. The stadium's site is six kilometres north of Oxford.
About 90% of journeys to and from the stadium could be via sustainable transport, Ridge said, with new pedestrian and bicycle routes to be built around the site. The development is also located near the Oxford Parkway railway station.
The mixed-use development will host a 1,000-capacity events space, as well as a 180-bed hotel, restaurant, health centre, and public gardens. It will also include beehives, ponds, and wildflower meadows, with the goal of a 20% net increase in biodiversity in the area.
Construction also began on New York City’s first all-electric football stadium at the end of 2024, with New York City F.C.’s Etihad Park set to open for the 2027 Major League Soccer season. The 25,000-capacity Etihad Park will similarly feature roof-mounted photovoltaic panels.
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