Tokyo Stadium Architects "Set Record Straight" on Scuttled Design

(ATR) Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) says the projected cost overruns of the Tokyo National Stadium are due to the increasing costs of construction in Japan, not the futuristic design.

The architecture firm released a statement on Tuesday in order to correct reports claiming the cost increases stemmed from the new-age design. The design was scrapped by the Japanese government after sinking public approval and projected cost overruns.

"Our teams in Japan and the U.K. feel it is necessary to set the record straight on the Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) design for the new national stadium for Japan, which has been developed to the client’s brief and budget," the statement says.

ZHA says the Japanese Sports Council (JSC) approved the design and budget at every stage of the two year design process and that the firm worked diligently to further reduce the estimated costs.

"The increase in the estimated budget reported by the JSC is in fact due to the inflated costs of construction in Tokyo, a restricted and an uncompetitive approach to appointing construction contractors and a restriction on collaboration between the design team and appointed construction contractors, not the design," the firm says.

The firm also notes a two-stage tender process was used for the first time for a public building in Japan, something ZHA warned could cause further cost overruns due to skyrocketing construction costs on an annual basis. These warning were not heeded according to the firm.

"The current building boom in Tokyo increasing construction demand, a limited labor supply and the yen’s significant drop in value greatly increasing the price of imported raw materials have all contributed to Tokyo’s construction costs growing dramatically since 2012/2013 when the new National Stadium project was first announced," ZHA reports as the culprits of the overruns.

The JSC reported the design of the stadium was to blame for two-thirds of the projected cost overruns and much of the commentary focused on the steel arches of the design.

ZHA refuted these claims: "These arches are not complex and use standard bridge building technology to support the lightweight and strong polymer membrane roof to cover all spectator seats. The arched roof structure is as efficient as many other major stadia in Japan and the arches allow the roof to be constructed in parallel with the stadium seating bowl."

ZHA says building the stadium seating bowl and the arches at the same time would further reduce construction costs opposed to building the seating bowl before being able to move on to the arch and roof construction.

The JSC and Japanese government are now accepting designs for a new national stadium. ZHA says this will only further increase the costs of the stadium build as construction costs will continue to increase in the lead up to the Olympics in 2020.

This delay in the construction process will likely make hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2019 in the stadium impossible. ZHA argues that a rushed new design and construction process will result in a lower quality stadium than originally planned.

The change in the design also resulted in the director general of Japan’s Sports and Youth Bureau Kimito Kubo stepping down from his position. He is widely blamed for allowing the projected costs to exceed the $2 billion mark.

The governor of Tokyo Yoichi Masuzoe took to Twitter to express his disapproval of the inflated costs of the stadium, calling for "punishment for those responsible for this fiasco."

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are set to begin in less than five years. The stage for the opening ceremony currently sits as a cleared plot of land. It is unclear when construction will begin on the new stadium.

Written by Kevin Nutley

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