East Stand at Highbury Stadium

The East Stand at Highbury Stadium is a football stand dating from 1936, designed by William Binnie, with a matching extension added to the south around 1990. The construction is steel-reinforced concrete, faced with brick and featuring a corrugated metal roof.

The stand is two tiers high and connected to a block housing administrative offices, reception areas, and players’ quarters. Viewed from the pitch, the structure rises five storeys high, while at Avenell Road it is four storeys. The entrance front along Avenell Road has 13 bays, with the central bay wider and the outer two narrower and lower. The ground floor is constructed of black and yellow brick, leading to a central entrance in a projecting rendered bay flanked by lamp standards. The entrance is framed by a moulded black marble surround and features a simplified entablature displaying the club emblem. The entrance has two original doors: an openwork metal door and a glazed door with chrome fittings. The central three bays rise through the first and second floors, canted in plan, and are topped by a panel featuring a field gun emblem modelled in cement. The first, second, and third floors are cement-rendered, with symmetrical window arrangements separated by plain mullions within stepped inset panels. The two outer bays are narrower, without mullions, and have narrow windows flanking the central porch bay. Between the second and third floors, the central three bays display the lettering “ARSENAL STADIUM.” The third floor has low horizontal windows with metal grilles set within stepped inset panels. The stand is topped by a parapet and railings. Original features include four rainwaterheads and two flagstaffs set in brackets at the third floor level. The north and south elevations are one bay wide and have tripartite windows set within stepped inset panels. Steel columns support the structure; the outer pair are more substantial, with five inner columns supporting the upper tier and two extending to the roof. The upper tier features a decorative stepped cement-rendered balcony and original glazing. Reinforced concrete provides the stair treads for each tier. The roof has an unequal pitch with an awning to the front; the steelwork is concealed by a corrugated metal fascia displaying club emblems and flagstaffs.

Inside, the vestibule has a terrazzo floor with club emblems, a ceiling with stepped inset panels, a bronze bust by Epstein of Herbert Chapman, and a staircase with stepped balustrading and chrome and hardwood rails. The first-floor landing has a terrazzo floor and a field-gun emblem. The Directors’ Cocktail Lounge features a modelled figure of a naked athlete—originally positioned in the Ladies’ Lounge. A passage connects the landing to the boardroom, which is fully panelled with inlaid detail and a bolection-moulded fireplace with stepped inset panels. The boardroom was extended in 1990 with matching details. Several original oak doors remain.