Dan Meis has revealed the four words he overheard from an Everton steward that convinced him he had got the design of Hill Dickinson Stadium right.
The architect was walking into the stadium bowl when one steward held a door open for him. As Meis passed, he heard her turn to a colleague and say: “He listened to us.”
For the man tasked with designing Everton’s new home after more than a century at Goodison Park, it was about as meaningful a review as he could have received.
“I thought: ‘What a powerful thing,'” Meis said.
“I don’t know this person, but she obviously saw the communication and followed the process and that’s what you really hope for as an architect.”
Meis knew replacing Goodison demanded more
Meis recalled the encounter during a special live edition of the Royal Blue podcast with Liverpool Echo journalist Christopher Beesley.
The episode accompanied discussion around Beesley’s new book, On the Banks of the Royal Blue Mersey: The Inside Story of Everton’s First Season at Bramley Moore Dock, which includes an exclusive interview with the American architect.
Meis knew from the beginning that replacing Goodison could never simply be a question of producing a bigger and more modern stadium.
“We knew even though this was going to be a new building, we were going to have to capture the magic of Goodison, or we’d have failed,” he said.
His engagement with Everton supporters became an important part of that process and ultimately changed his own relationship with the club.
“I became infected by that, very early on it became clear I wasn’t just designing a building in Liverpool, I was designing a home for people who I now felt part of, like my family – it’s unique, without a doubt,” Meis said.
That connection has survived the completion of the stadium. Meis told the podcast he now considers himself an Evertonian and joked that his allegiance could make future football stadium projects more complicated.
Everton are now into their second season at the Hill Dickinson, with the challenge moving from designing the stadium to building the traditions and atmosphere that will define it over the decades ahead.
We’ve previously looked at the club’s ambitions for year two at Hill Dickinson Stadium, as David Moyes’ side continue to settle into their new surroundings.
Meis has designed sporting venues around the world, but his measure of success on Merseyside was rather simpler.
Four words from a steward he didn’t know were enough.
Full details of Meis’ reflections can be found in the Liverpool Echo’s interview.
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