Kawneer systems help give Warwickshire cricket its edge back
Curtain walling and doors from Kawneer feature on the redevelopment of Edgbaston Cricket Ground.
Curtain walling from leading architectural aluminium systems supplier Kawneer is giving guests in the banqueting suite at Warwickshire County Cricket Club a unique perspective of the wicket.
A £32million redevelopment of Edgbaston Cricket Ground is apparently, unlike other cricketing venues, enabling spectators in the banqueting facilities to watch play while being catered for at the same time.
Kawneer’s AA®100 zone-drained curtain walling, with 50mm sightlines, complemented by Kawneer’s series 190 heavy-duty and 350 severe-duty commercial entrance doors, form the majority of glazed areas to the project, from the external entrances to the pitch-side hospitality areas.
They were installed by specialist sub-contractor APiC UK for main contractor Galliford Try Construction, the group behind the redevelopment of Wimbledon’s Centre Court, to a BREEAM “Very good” rating by AFL architects who are frequent users of Kawneer’s systems.
At Edgbaston, AFL specified a stick system of curtain wall “to maximise glazed areas in the most cost-efficient way possible,” to meet the brief for expansive views of the playing area from the pitch-side hospitality areas.
AFL associate Marcel Ridyard added: “The thin sightlines achieved by the framing were important and the colour of the Kawneer systems could also be matched with the cladding and internal finishing.
“The glazed elements provide the spectators with views both into the playing area and glimpses to the outside where required. They also counterpoint the solid elements.”
The new Edgbaston stadium is situated on the site of four previous stands which had a capacity of fewer than 5,000 and comprises a mixed-use, 8,000-capacity complex of state-of-the-art playing facilities, and media, hospitality and exhibition space.
Centre-piece of the design is a conference and banqueting suite which caters for up to 700 guests. This room has been expressed as a sculptural form clad in striking blue panels and juxtaposed windows.
This element on the street frontage forms an extended canopy to the main double-height entrance, with a new visitor and learning centre on the first floor. The rest of the street elevation is clad in sinusoidal profiled metal cladding, curved both in plan and in section, linking the various elements of the new stand seamlessly together.
Behind this cladding element are four levels of seating and spectator facilities. The main section of seating is centred around the main test wicket and is topped with a central media viewing facility for more than 200 TV, radio and print journalists.
The highest level of seating is a skyline terrace, below which are two levels of hospitality suites with boxes and the luxury Jaguar and 1882 Club suites. A separate two-tier seating bank to the west of the main stand is for general admission spectators. In the base of this is a large concourse, designed to double-up as an exhibition hall linked to the banqueting facilities above.
Such spectator facilities take the extended ground capacity to 25,000 for domestic and international cricket, and matched with the media viewing facilities, put Edgbaston once again at the forefront of world cricket.
ENDS
Photo: AFL architects
Tracy Twitchin
Director
TLC pr
0151 227 4957
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