Fresh St James' Park design concepts emerge as Newcastle United await crucial stadium expansion results

As Newcastle United await the results of a crucial St James’ Park expansion feasibility study, three fresh designs have been shared online.

Stadium concept designer and 3D animator Damián Bosio has proposed three expansion suggestions via his YouTube channel, Bondibot.

Here are the options...

Option A

The first option involves expanding the Gallowgate West Corner and Gallowgate Stand to the same level as the current Milburn and Leazes Stands. It will involve building over the Strawberry Place street and onto the land above the St James’ Metro Station.

This is probably the most feasible of the three options presented given the club purchased the Strawberry Place land from developers last year and it wouldn’t impact Leazes Terrace or the Leazes Conservation area.

The club want a stadium with a capacity in excess of 60,000, meaning around 8,000 seats would have to be added to the Gallowgate Stand.

Option B

The second option involves raising the St James’ Park playing surface and moving the pitch north west to allow more space to expand the East Stand and Gallowgate Stand. While it will mean losing capacity from the Milburn Stand and Leazes Stand, the design goes on to expand the East Stand and Gallowgate Stands so that all four stands are of a similar height.

This design won’t be viewed as realistic in its current guise due to the properties on Leazes Terrace and the ‘right to light’ easement that gives the landowners a right to receive sunlight on their buildings.

However, advances in technology could allow light to pass through an expanded East Stand.

Option C

Perhaps the most intriguing option of the three presented involves building a new stadium next to the current site on Leazes Park. This will allow a new state-of-the-art stadium to be constructed without significant expansion restrictions.

In reality, the site would be in the Leazes Conservation Area and would likely face significant backlash.

What Newcastle United have said

All three designs have captured the imagination of supporters but whether they are feasible is another matter.

The club’s decision regarding a stadium expansion or a potential new stadium will be heavily influenced by the results of the feasibility study.

Newcastle chief executive officer Darren Eales said back in January: “I don’t want to second guess our process, so we’ve done the stadium feasibility exactly for that reason.

“I’ve lost count of the number of people who have told me what we can and can’t do at St James’ Park, that aren’t architects. Everyone seems to be an architect!

"St James’ Park is a great location at the heart of the community, up on the hill, and if we can expand St James’ Park, then clearly that would make sense. But we have to know what’s possible.

"That is our number one approach, and that’s what our experts are doing now. We’ve got world leaders looking at it in terms of what is architecturally possible and what that would mean from a capacity and revenue perspective.

"To look beyond that is to be second guessing, but at the moment, if there’s a way that we can expand St James’ Park, then all things being equal, that would be the route that we’d like to take."