Project Overview

The MSG Sphere London is a proposed crystal-ball-style concert hall structure, near Olympic Park in Stratford. The design plans promise to provide a world-class venue for our time and offer a virtual simulation of the senses that takes you to other worlds to create new memories.

Project Commissioner

Madison Square Garden Company (MSG)

Project Creator

Populous

Project Context

Proposed for a five-acre spot near the Olympic Park in Stratford, the MGS Sphere London will feature an iconic design and will be equipped with game-changing technologies that push the limits of connectivity, acoustics, video, and content distribution.

Project Innovation

Standing at 130 metres tall, the sphere hopes to accommodate 18,000 guests. Early designs show seating arranged in a 260-degree bowl within the globe-shaped venue. The sphere would be supported on a tripod of pylons that would allow pedestrians to pass underneath it.

Plans show the venue completely covered on the outside and inside by programmable, wraparound LED screens, with a 170,000 square foot display plane within the arena itself. This would become the largest and highest resolution on earth, capable of displaying 250 million pixels, more than 100 times clearer than today’s available HD TV technology. 

The outside wrap of the Sphere can be turned into any number of visuals, from a giant tennis ball to a world globe, from displaying a performance going on inside or even making Sphere blend in with the surrounding skyline.

In addition, an “infrasound haptic” flooring system will convey bass sounds through the floor, meaning guests can now “feel” the experience, as well as stopping sound spilling outside the venue. Plans also propose a holographic concierge - a holographically enabled guide that greets and answers basic questions for guests.