A major sporting event was the perfect impetus to put Manchester back on the world sporting stage.

Frustrated in the selection process for the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, Manchester finally triumphed as the winning city for the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

The 38,000-seat stadium was to form the heart of the Commonwealth Games, but a sustainable legacy use was fundamental to the scheme and assisted in the financing of the facilities. The development thus become a regeneration catalyst for East Manchester, converted to football use for anchor tenant Manchester City Football Club for the 2003 season. The stadium now offers 48,000 permanent seats: the capacity differences required specific expertise to resolve.

The stadium is the centrepiece of Sport City, and includes the Velodrome (an earlier Davis Langdon project), a tennis centre, English Institute of Sport, athletics warm up track (now a mini stadium), and transport links. The site required extensive preparation including mine grouting and decontamination.

The management of a large and diverse number of stakeholders was critical to the success of these projects. There were numerous clients including MCC, MCFC and M2002 (Commonwealth Games) all having specific requirements in the stadium.

The design/construction team was mostly coordinated through using the same practices, construction manager and trade contractors for much of the projects. There were differences, however, and these needed to be managed.

Davis Langdon’s consistent, timely and impartial cost advice to all stakeholders eased the situation and enabled shared benefits and good revenue value for all client bodies.