Like a champion: the Tottenham project

Ajax Amsterdam already considers itself in the Champions League final. At halftime, the hosts lead 2-0 against Tottenham Hotspur. But Lucas Moura achieves the seemingly impossible: within five minutes, the Brazilian midfield star in Spurs' service scores twice – and even in the sixth minute of added time, the 27-year-old is there and scores the decisive goal with his weaker left foot for the Londoners' 3-2 victory in Amsterdam. Not only because of Moura's perfect hat trick, with which he sent his Spurs to a Champions League* final for the first time, 2019 is a memorable year for the club: just a few weeks earlier, on April 3rd, the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London was opened. From the very beginning, fischer was there and helped with the suitable fastening solutions as well as expertise and consulting to make the dream of the most modern arena in England a reality.
* In the 2019 Champions League final, Tottenham Hotspur lost to FC Liverpool 0-2.

Engineering Masterpiece: The New Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

The new home of the Spurs sets standards in stadium construction: it features a football pitch that can be retracted under the stands, an American football field underneath, the longest bar in Europe and the largest single-tier stand in England, which seats 17,500 spectators. When the fans sing "When the Spurs go marching in," it sounds overwhelming. Due to the special acoustic requirements and the height of the ceilings, sliding ceiling connections were needed for all walls. "These were installed with our brand-new ULTRACUT FBS II concrete screws at the time. It was the first time we sold this product in Great Britain; the ULTRACUT FBS II were installed at Tottenham Stadium directly after the product launch," says Dave Minton.

He heads technical sales for fischer in Great Britain and is responsible for major projects like the construction of the new Tottenham Stadium. "We were the primary supplier for the technical and electrical fit-out as well as a large part of the stadium's interior fittings." In addition to the ULTRACUT FBS II concrete screws, the impact anchors EA II were primarily used here to fasten sprinkler systems, cable trays, and similar items.

fischer delivers the service along with the product

„We were able to outperform competitors in the facade installation because we saved the customer real money,“ says Dave Minton. „It's not necessarily about having the cheapest products. Rather, thanks to our consulting, problems are detected and solved as early as possible. This saves installation costs.“ The designers had only planned through bolts for the facade, even though calculations showed there were dynamic loads in certain areas. „We immediately noticed during the design phase that the planned through bolts were insufficient. We advised our customers that a dynamic anchor must be used instead. They ultimately chose our Highbond anchor rod FHB II.“ If the facade had been installed with the wrong fastening, everything would have had to be removed and reassembled. This would have resulted in significant construction delays.

„It is important that we have the most innovative and powerful products. But to complete a project as punctually as possible, the service around the product is just as important,“ says Minton. „In Great Britain, for safety-relevant or structural fastenings, we work according to the so-called BS-8539 standard. All installers must be trained in this, otherwise five percent of the fastenings must be subsequently checked by the manufacturer.“ Therefore, during the construction of the stadium, fischer offered free training for all installers. „Our project team arrives at the construction site in the morning, and the training is completed by noon,“ Minton explains. After that, fischer employees only visit the site occasionally to check if everything is in order. „We ensure that the anchors are installed correctly from the start, instead of having to laboriously correct possible errors afterward. This significantly reduces downtime on the construction site.“

The success story for fischer continues

“It was a great honor for us to be involved in the construction of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium,” Minton concludes. “Apart from Wembley Stadium, there is nothing comparable in the United Kingdom.” The project is already having a wide impact: “Together with several contractors, we have thereby won the contract for the new Google headquarters in London.” The fastening specialist fischer also supplies the electrical and technical contractor there.

fischer Product Highlights:

Perfect for use in the Tottenham Stadium project