Birds Nest Stadium designers win go-ahead for new home for Chelsea FC

LONDON - Premiership league leaders Chelsea have won the go-ahead for a new 60,000 seater stadium designed by the architects behind the iconic "Bird's Nest" Olympic stadium in Beijing.

Swiss architects Jacques Herzog (L) and Pierre de Meuron (R) of 'Herzog & De Meuron' architects pose with Japanese acustic engineer Yasuhisa Toyota following the opening ceremony for the "Elbphilharmonie" (Philharmonic Hall) concert hall along the Elbe river in Hamburg, Germany, January 11, 2017. [Photo\Agencies]

The new home for the London football club, costing more than 600 million US dollars, has been designed by architects Herzog and de Meuron.

The local council for Hammersmith and Fulham approved the scheme at a planning meeting on Wednesday night.

In a statement on the club's website Thursday, Chelsea FC tells fans that the council has given permission for the new stadium.

When built, it will replace Chelsea's Stamford Bridge Stadium, opened in 1877, which has an attendance capacity of 41,600.

The new scheme by Herzog and de Meuron includes a direct walkway link between the stadium and a station on the London Underground system.

The club's statement said: "This is just the latest step, although a significant one, that we have to take before we can commence work, including obtaining various other permissions."

This includes arranging a new home for Chelsea for up to three seasons while the construction work is carried out. The national football stadium at Wembley as well as the Twickenham home of Rugby Union are among the favoured options for a temporary home for Chelsea. Another option is for the club to remain at Stamford Bridge while work goes on, but the complex nature of the new stadium may well this option out.