Everton new stadium: Work progresses on feature that will change Liverpool skyline

Everton’s landmark new stadium is developing a new look as hundreds of 250kg panels continue to be added to create the sleek barrel-clad roof.

Shaped in mid-air by a specialist robotic arm attached to a crane, each panel has to be adapted before being attached.

The painstaking process will ultimately see 872 of the aluminium pieces fitted, 436 on each of the East and West stands.

The work is adding another visible layer of progress to the waterfront site as the vision depicted by artists’ impressions and computer generated images becomes a reality on the banks of the Mersey.

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The perforated sheets will ultimately create the cladding that follows the shape of the curve of the roof on each of the East and West stands, one of the most notable features of the Everton Stadium shell. It will be that roof that changes the skyline of the waterfront as the Blues' new home sits within the north Liverpool docklands.

For Mike Young, principal facade engineer for Laing O’Rourke, this development has particular significance. He said: “I have been on this project now for three-and-a-half years. It’s a long time in the making and the cladding is the last significant bit of the envelope that we have to complete, so it’s great to see it finally becoming a reality.”

The first phase of cladding is now complete on the East stand, meaning attention there will now turn to starting the installations. The ambition is to have the stadium roof completely covered by this summer. William Morrison, associate operations director with sub-contractors Lindner Prate,