Details of plans to expand Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium have been unveiled by architects Populous. 

The designs include not just an increase in capacity at the venue, but the addition of new structures outside it, including new offices, a club museum and a large covered area for fans to gather known as ‘City Square’.

Covered by a steel frame and a glazed canopy, this is likely to be the largest of several features of the new development glazing specialists will undertake. 

According to BD Online, Laing O’ Rourke have been lined up as the main contractor, although Sisk has been lined up to construct a 400-room hotel as part of the development.

The expansion of the venue itself will see the capacity increased to 60,000. It was 48,000 when City originally moved to the stadium in 2003. Known at the time as the City of Manchester Stadium and owned by the city council, it first built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games with the venue being converted into a football stadium thereafter.

This made it ideal for Manchester City to move into as an upgrade on their old home of Maine Road in the Moss Side area of the city and since the takeover of the club by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund in 2008, the club has been able to develop both the venue and the area around it, something not possible at Maine Road, which was hemmed in by terraced streets.

Populous have gained a strong reputation for constructing stadiums, having designed both Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London. However, their next big project may provide more work in Manchester as they have been in discussions with Manchester United on a possible redevelopment of Old Trafford.

When that may happen and what form it may take could depend on the outcome of the bidding process that could see the club gain new investment or be taken over completely.