Construction to start after Lord’s Ashes test

ISG has been selected to build the next phase of a redevelopment at Lord’s cricket ground.

The contractor, who has worked on other major sports developments including projects at Ascot Racecourse, the Olympic Velodrome and the O2, has been named as preferred bidder for the £50m scheme.

An ISG spokesperson said: “Following a competitive first stage tender process, MCC has appointed ISG to the project as its preferred bidder for the second stage tender process, which has now commenced.”

ISG was shortlisted but missed out on the first phase of the project, Populous Architects’ new Warner Stand, which Bam completed in 2017.

The second phase, which has been designed by Wilkinson Eyre and will replace the Compton and Edrich stands at the Marylebone venue, was given planning permission by Westminster council earlier this week. 

Other firms working on the scheme that will boost Lord’s capacity by around 2,500 to 31,000 include Buro Happold for civils, Arcadis for cost management and Gardiner & Theobald for project management and principal design.

The MCC said work would start on the redevelopment of the stands on 24 August, a week after the second Ashes test wraps up at the venue.

It said this was subject to the ratification of members at the club’s annual general meeting in May.

The project would be delivered through a “rapid-build design sequence”, the MCC said, which has been developed to minimise interruption to match fixtures, meaning that the new stands’ seats would be ready for use during the 2020 season. Fully fitted-out facilities are scheduled to be completed for the summer of 2021.

Providing seating for 11,500, the new three-tier stands will surround Future Systems’ Stirling Prize-winning Media Centre and offer improved sightlines, new toilets, integrated catering facilities and lifts to all levels.

MCC chief executive Guy Lavender said the stands’ redevelopment would be another “transformational” step for the ground.

“By raising the capacity to 31,000, we will be able to welcome more spectators to enjoy matches at the largest cricket ground in the country,” he said.

According to Lord’s updated masterplan, the next phase of redevelopment for the ground is its East Gate Building.

Additional reporting by Jim Dunton and Will Ing