Powerhouses to design Birmingham City home

Article posted by Coliseum, October 28^th, 2025

Image: Birmingham City FC on Facebook

The English Football League (EFL) Championship team Birmingham City F.C. (UK) Chairman Tom Wagner has named Heatherwick Studio and MANICA as the Sports Quarter stadium design and architect team.

‘BCFC.com’ stated that the above two entities will be responsible for creating the club’s new home.

Preston (UK)-based the English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales (UK). Founded in 1888 as the Football League it is the oldest football league in the world and was the top-level football league in England from its foundation until 1992 when the top 22 clubs split from it to form the Premier League, the highest level of the English football league system. The Football League was rebranded as the ‘English Football League’ (EFL) starting with the 2016-2017 seasons.

The Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England (UK). Formed in 1875 as the Small Heath Alliance it was renamed the Small Heath in 1888, the Birmingham in 1905 and the Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.

The 29,409-capacity St Andrew’s, known since 2024 for sponsorship reasons as St. Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park, is an association football stadium in the Bordesley district of Birmingham, England (UK). It has been the home ground of the Birmingham City Football Club for more than a century.

The Heatherwick Studio is a team of 200 problem solvers dedicated to making the physical world around them better for everyone. Based out of their combined workshop and design studio in Central London (UK) they create buildings, spaces, master plans, objects, and infrastructure. Focusing on large-scale projects in Cities all over the world they prioritize those with the greatest positive social impact.

Kansas City (US)-based MANICA Architecture provides its clients with the unique combination of large-scale project experience and the personality and creativity of a boutique international design studio. Unlike many large architectural firms that specialize in projects of similar scale MANICA is dedicated to ensuring that all of its clients are given the personal attention and unparalleled expertise they deserve.

The new stadium will be the centerpiece of the Sports Quarter in the heart of East Birmingham which includes plans for high-performance training facilities and other mixed-use real estate and will add an estimated £450m annually to Birmingham’s economy by 2035.

‘BCFC.com’ further stated that speaking at the Regional Investment Summit in Edgbaston alongside Chancellor Rachel Reeves ‘The Blues’ Co-Owner Wagner outlined the stadium collaboration which will see multi-award-winning British designers Heatherwick Studio partner with the Kansas-based architectural powerhouse MANICA.

They will be supported by Steven Knight, the iconic Film Writer/Director and a lifelong ‘The Blues’ fan.

This exciting partnership has vowed to deliver a project that will be “truly extraordinary, recognizable around the globe yet rooted in the history of Birmingham”.

Further details, including design imagery of the stadium, will be released in the coming weeks.

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