Featured image credit: Paul Gillett/CC BY-SA 2.0/Edited for size
Marylebone Cricket Club has appointed London-based WilkinsonEyre as the architect for the redevelopment of the Tavern and Allen stands at Lord’s.
The project will see the Tavern Stand stripped back to its underlying steel framework to enable the structure to be extended and completely rebuilt. The smaller Allen Stand, parts of which date back to the 1930s, will be demolished and replaced by a new building.
WilkinsonEyre has been awarded the contract following a design competition and the appointment extends the company’s relationship with MCC. The two parties worked together on the design and delivery of the Compton and Edrich stands at Lord’s, which marked the largest construction project in the club’s history.
The project was completed for the 2021 cricket season, with the new stands providing integrated facilities and increasing the stadium’s seating capacity by 2,600. The latest project will further increase the stadium’s seating capacity by around 1,000.
The Tavern and Allen stands are situated close to the principal members’ entrance through the Grace Gate, with the buildings also leading to the Grade II-listed Pavilion. WilkinsonEyre’s design proposals will seek to enhance the “sense of arrival” at Lord’s while modernising and improving this area of the stadium.
Robert Ebdon, MCC estates director, said: “After a thorough architects’ tender process, we are delighted to be renewing our successful partnership with the team at WilkinsonEyre for our next ambitious project.
“The Tavern and Allen stands are much cherished by members. Redevelopment will greatly improve the accessibility of the stands, increase our seating capacity by approximately 1,000, provide more flexible hospitality with increased catering facilities, and be vastly more sustainable.”
Jim Eyre, founding director at WilkinsonEyre, added: “We feel privileged to be commissioned to design the latest new structures at Lord’s. Our experience of designing the Compton and Edrich stands has given us a special insight and passion for working at such an historic ground, contributing to its continued success as a sporting venue in the best way that we are able.”
Last month, MCC made a move to diversify the offering at Lord’s by launching an outdoor cinema venture.
Sight Screen Cinema is designed to open up the historic London ground for the general public to experience Lord’s in an entirely different way.
The first year of Sight Screen Cinema is set to see 8,000 people watching the Bollywood hit ‘83’, over the weekend of July 15-16, 40 years after the historic match was played at Lord’s. The film is a biopic following the story behind India’s victory in the 1983 World Cup, led by Kapil Dev. Much of the filming took place on location at Lord’s in the summer of 2019.
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