Graven designs VIP lounges at Anfield Stadium for Liverpool Football Club

Graven has designed the branding, interiors and signage for two VIP lounges at Anfield Stadium for Liverpool Football Club.

The Boardroom Lounge and The Executive Lounge represent the premium hospitality available to guests at Anfield, while celebrating the integrity and heritage of the city of Liverpool, the Club and its supporters.

The lounges form part of the development of the Main Stand at Anfield Stadium, which has seen its capacity soar from 12,200 to 20,500 seats with the addition of premium public space and first class facilities for supporters. The redeveloped Main Stand is an important part of an ambitious Liverpool City Council-led regeneration programme for the Anfield area.

Ross Hunter, Director at Graven said: “It’s such an honour to work for Liverpool FC. As we’re based in Scotland, we were well aware of the strong Scottish ties Liverpool FC has, which only added to the special nature of the project. We hope that when fans and visitors spend time in the lounges they enjoy the welcoming atmosphere.

“Our designs aim to reflect the beating heart of Liverpool – the generations of fans, players, managers and stakeholders who are all invested in the past, present and future of the famous club. Ultimately we hope that we have caught the essence of Anfield and of Liverpool.”

Ian Ayre, the chief executive of Liverpool FC and lifelong supporter said in the Liverpool City Region Business Post: “The brief was very much that we wanted it to feel uniquely Liverpool.

“We thought it was a great opportunity to celebrate the captains of industry from this city; people who have either been from the city and had an impact on it, or who have come to the city and played their part in making the city great.

“So there is a great mural of pictures of all sorts of different people in The Executive Lounge.
You come to Anfield but you don’t need every picture on every wall, on every emblem, on every carpet to say ‘LFC’.

“We know where we are, we know who we are.”

Along with incredible views of the pitch and some of the best seats available, both lounges aim to be among the finest places in the City to enjoy the Anfield atmosphere. The Club’s reputation influenced the design of meaningful, real places to become part of its legacy and act as a motivation for a Club with its sights firmly set on a successful future.

The entrance to The Boardroom Lounge creates an opportunity for future glories to be celebrated and recorded. Inspired by the tunnel of the Main Stand—the scene of the iconic moment as players emerge onto the pitch—and the engraving of trophies, the silver tunnel-like threshold is clad in mirror polished stainless steel and engraved with the names of the team’s revered Captains and the Club’s Championship victories.

Commemoration and memory is explored further as Graven created opportunities for some of the Club’s most influential players to be embedded in the very fabric of the lounges. Unique customised cast bronze badges—created by bespoke jewellery designers, Brazen–are set into the side of the 12 window booths of The Boardroom Lounge.

Graven brings the architecture of Albert Dock and the local red brick terraced houses into The Executive Lounge. Dark oak bricks printed with names of supporters and sponsors are interspersed with original bricks from the Main Stand and set as a flowing, irregular patterned wall display.

The Boardroom Lounge and The Executive Lounge are places for business as well as sport, adding to the tradition of Liverpool’s magnificent cultural, commercial and international heritage. Graven designed a number of exclusive, bespoke pieces that reference Anfield and Liverpool’s supporters including a dark grey linear patterned carpet inspired by Liverpool’s dockyard cranes and the architectural details of the original Main Stand, designed by the prolific stadia architect and engineer, Archibald Leitch.

Every space, seat and stitch was an opportunity to embed meaning and opportunities for new moments and stories. A carefully curated selection of artwork and artefacts are used to communicate the rich history and brand of Liverpool FC but also the wider importance of the Club within the City of Liverpool and in turn the City’s international status. The Executive Lounge features a ‘gallery’ of Liverpool’s captains of industry and unearths some lesser-known heroes, while The Boardroom Lounge exhibits framed artwork of Liverpool’s trade and shipping past and an incredible, glistening display of original and replica trophies.

Graven continues to build on its specialist experience of designing high-end hospitality spaces having designed and delivered the SSE VIP Lounge at The SSE Hydro and SSE Arena Wembley. The studio also works closely with British Airways, recently completing projects including Changi Airport Singapore, Washington Dulles International Airport and Edinburgh International Airport.

Awards
Liverpool FC’s Main Stand at Anfield Stadium shortlisted for TheStadiumBusiness Awards 2017 ‘New Venue’ and ‘Venue of the Year’

Press
Urban Realm | Best Buildings, Interiors, Anfield Stadium VIP Lounges
PanStadia & Arena Management Magazine | Graven Designs VIP Lounges at Anfield
Hospitality Design Magazine | Graven Designs VIP Lounges for Anfield Stadium
The National | Glasgow design firm Graven make their mark on Anfield
Liverpool Business Post, Oct/Nov 2016 | Stand and deliver – how Anfield was transformed

More information on Liverpool FC
More information on Anfield Stadium and the Main Stand Expansion
Latest news on Liverpool FC

Photography: © Renzo Mazzolini Photography