Sands were appointed to carry out the Civil and Structural design for the second phase expansion works of the original stadium that was completed in 2008. The work is without a doubt one of the most challenging projects that the practice has been involved in.

The project objectives were;

• To extend the West Stand 
  Stadium Capacity from
  10,744 to 12,000

• To double the size of the
  existing function room
  space

• To prepare Sandy Park for  
  Rugby World Cup 2015
  games

From a technical point of view, the biggest challenge was to hang the second floor from the roof structure. Three existing load bearing columns were removed from the extended Gold Bar Suite to provide a large unobstructed conference, banqueting and bar area; possibly one of the largest in Devon.