Mott MacDonald has played a leading role in developing new design guidelines for women’s football stadiums, a world-first framework launched by Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL) Football. The guidelines aim to support clubs, local authorities and design teams in creating or upgrading venues specifically for elite women’s teams, ensuring these spaces meet the needs of female players, supporters and staff.
The publication comes at a pivotal time for women’s football. The rapid growth of the game has made it clear that most stadiums were designed with male players and fans in mind. The new framework addresses this imbalance by providing practical, evidence-based design principles that prioritise inclusivity, safety and accessibility, setting new standards for the future of women’s sports infrastructure.
A comprehensive approach to inclusive design
In compiling the document, Barclays WSL Football conducted a wide-ranging consultation with supporters, clubs, players, coaches, matchday staff, medical professionals, media, engineers, architects and sustainability experts. The process explored how football venues can better respond to the needs of women and families while offering long-term value for communities.
Feedback identified several key areas of improvement. These include female-friendly changing and washroom facilities, enhanced accessibility for disabled fans, dedicated parent and guardian spaces such as family toilets and breastfeeding areas, and improved safety design for all visitors. Futureproofing against climate change also emerged as a critical theme, ensuring new and existing venues remain resilient in a changing environment.
Embedding sustainability and climate resilience
Mott MacDonald took the lead in developing the sustainability and climate resilience sections of the new framework. Drawing on its extensive experience in sustainable infrastructure design, the consultancy helped define how environmental responsibility should be integrated into every stage of stadium development.
The guidance encourages clubs and design teams to adopt renewable energy systems, rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling, as well as to eliminate single-use plastics. It also advises incorporating measures to mitigate heat stress and manage flood risk, ensuring environmental performance is embedded in design, rather than added later.
Ruth Shilston, Mott MacDonald’s Technical Director for Buildings, said: “These new women’s stadium guidelines have been an opportunity to shape industry standards that will transform the way we design, build and experience football stadiums. We’re proud to have brought our decades of experience in sustainable and resilient building design to this work and look forward to seeing these principles adopted across the industry.”
A milestone for women’s sports infrastructure
Hannah Buckley, Head of Safety, Sustainability and Infrastructure for Barclays WSL Football, added: “It was acknowledged that female-specific stadiums were a blind spot in the industry. The willingness of stakeholders to come together with their expertise and insights has been inspiring.”
The guidelines represent a major step towards creating equitable, sustainable and inclusive sporting environments that reflect the diversity of modern football. They provide a practical framework for architects, engineers and governing bodies to reimagine what the future of sports venues can be, ensuring that facilities designed for women also serve wider community needs.
The full guidance document, Design Guidelines for Elite Women’s Stadiums, is available online at wslfootball.com.
Read next: Unlock the full value of location intelligence – Build in Digital
Are you a building professional? Sign up for a FREE MEMBERSHIP to upload news stories, post job vacancies, and connect with colleagues on our secure social feed.
