Costs escalate for new Lansdowne Road stadium

The concept design for the new Landsdowne Road stadium in Dublin has been put on show.

The 50,000-capacity all-seater stadium was unveiled at a conference with Irish sports minister, John O’Donoghue, who revealed that the overall project cost had escalated to E365m – E70m more than estimated.

The cost of building the stadium will be met by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), along with the Irish government and the European Union.

O’Donoghue said that the government would not add to the E191m it had already committed.

The venue has been designed by HOK Sport, and strongly features the use of translucent and reflective materials. Design principal, Christopher Lee said: “Reflecting the colour of the sky and light conditions, its facade is ever changing.”

Planning permission will be sought before the end of the year, allowing work to commence in 2007, for completion in 2009.