Pioneer project for press technology in Ireland
"Football is a gentlemen's game played by ruffians; rugby is a ruffian's game played by gentlemen" – at least that's what rugby fans say. The "ruffians" and "gentlemen" of the Republic of Ireland's football and rugby teams respectively have been sharing a home in Dublin since 1872. For decades, both played at the historic but run-down Lansdowne Road ground. The Aviva Stadium was constructed as the new sporting "temple" of the sports-mad Irish on the same historic site in 2010. Since then the elegant horseshoe-shaped arena has also played host to stars including Madonna, Lady Gaga and AC/DC.
Sunlight for the neighbours
The stunning architectural design sits like a crystal shell in the midst of a residential area. While three of the sides feature four-level stands, the north end comprises just a single level – so as not to block the (in any case fairly rare) sunlight from the neighbouring homes. In fact, the stadium is generally built in accordance with sound ecological principles. The playing area, for example, is sprinkled using rain water; and the waste heat from the generators heats the water for the sanitation facilities.
Drinking water and heating for the fans
The Aviva Stadium has a capacity of just under 52,000. The fans enjoy top-class water supply and heating, thanks to the Profipress copper piping system throughout the drinking water installation and the galvanised steel Prestabo system used for the heating installation. Although Viega did not receive the invitation to tender until very late in the process, its Profipress and Prestabo products were ultimately chosen. The planners were impressed above all by the functional SC-Contur and the double pressing technology. The contract was won even though press connectors had up to that point been practically unknown in Ireland. So the stadium also represents a successful pioneer project for the press connection technology brought to production maturity by Viega.
