When the Australian cricket team moves to Yorkshire in August during the npower Ashes Series, the cricket world will have a special preview of the designs for Will Alsop’s dramatic new pavilion for the famous Headingly Carnegie Cricket Ground.
Without the new world-class cricket media and hospitality facilities for Leeds Metropolitan University and The Yorkshire County Cricket Club, combines new world-class cricket media and hospitality facilities with the functions of a university teaching faculty to provide a unique integrated development.
The project will be “a model for a new kind of sustainable sports venue and a more innovative approach to higher education”, Will Alsop said.
The Alsop scheme presents a predominantly naturalistic green, white and glazed exterior featuring green rain-screen cladding with varied perforations, pitches and tones. The cladding strategy, along with carefully considered landscaping elements, aims to visually soften the edges and break down the mass of the pavilion. The cladding intentionally merges with gentle landscaping in front of the pavilion as well as the gardens and trees in the nearby residential area.
Echoing the curves of the stadium, the three upper floors of the pavilion are enclosed by facetted, triangular, perforated metal panels in three naturalistic light green tones. In contrast, the upper ground and lower ground floors are enclosed with frameless curtain walling to maximise the openness and transparency at entrance level. The new 4,000sqm Carnegie Pavilion will replace and upgrade the existing Yorkshire County Cricket Club facilities in Leeds.
Stewart Regan, chief executive of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, said: “Without this substantial investment into the provision of new, improved facilities, especially for players and the media, it is highly unlikely that the England and Wales Cricket Board would have allowed international cricket to remain in Yorkshire. With a TV audience in excess of 500 million people, The Carnegie Pavilion will be the most viewed building in Yorkshire and a real landmark for the region.”
Alsop’s designs will provide: a state-of-the-art media centre; an upgrade of player facilities, such as changing rooms and treatment rooms; and replacement spectator seating, new executive boxes and associated facilities. The new hospitality suites and media centre have been designed as lecture theatres and teaching space for use outside major cricketing events. Located less than a mile from Leeds Met’s Headingley Campus is a world famous sports complex that hosts the university’s sporting partners, and more events than any other stadia in the country. Headingley Carnegie pavilion is the perfect location to provide practical experiences for Leeds Met’s students to complement their studies in leading edge courses in sport, leisure, tourism, events and hospitality management.
Environmental, economic and social sustainability are central to the project. The sustainability strategy involves creating one dual-use building which will be used all year round, and is designed to achieve a UK environmental assessment (BREEAM) rating of ‘Excellent’.??The development is part of a raft of ambitious architectural projects by Leeds Met which include the iconic Rose Bowl — the new home of the University’s Business School, that will see the University transform its educational facilities. The Carnegie Pavilion is the final project within a programme that will ensure that both of its campuses are fit-for-purpose in providing 21st century higher education.
The scheme is currently on-site and is due for completion in May 2010.
Architecture is by Alsop, with structural engineering, acoustics, fire, transport and building services by Arup, and project management is by Gardiner & Theobald.
