Timber iQ February - March 2018 // Issue: 36 | Page 28

PROJECTS
Lord’s Cricket Ground in St John’s Wood, London, received an impressive Warner Stand upgrade.
Howzaaat?! Picking up
the pace with new stand
An engineering marvel made of American white oak bats a six as a new
stand is revamped at one of the world's most iconic sporting facilities.
By the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) | Photos by Jon Cardwell
T
he Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) commissioned
architects Populous to design the new Warner stand,
which is part of an ongoing masterplan to improve
visitor experience and boost the international reputation of
Lord’s Cricket Ground in St John’s Wood, London.
Populous’ brief is to deliver a stand that overcame the
shortcomings of its predecessor. It also stamps its own
visual identity, while sitting sympathetically alongside
Lord’s other buildings.
“Lord’s comprises individual stand styles rather than one
stadium design; it’s an architectural campus, described as
‘pavilions around a village green’,” says Philip Johnson,
senior principal and project lead at Populous. “We made
design nods to the other stands, notably the tent-like fabric
roof of the Mound Stand.
“At the same time, we aim to bring something new; a
building that creates an impression of lightness – hence the
canopy comprising fabric rather than glass and the 13m
cantilevered section that makes it seem to float over the
crowd. We want to capture cricket’s summer character and
the ambience of a local club marquee.”
26 FEBRUARY / MARCH 2018 //
BOWLED OVER BY DESIGN
In this pioneering project, the roof of the stand is formed
from 11 cantilevered glue laminated (glulam) American
white oak beams, manufactured in Germany by specialist
timber fabricators Hess Timber, that radiate dramatically
from the corner of the ground, paving the way for brave
new structural uses of sustainable American hardwoods.
Each beam measures 900mm x 350mm at the deepest
point. The longest glulam beam weighs about 4t and
measures 23.4m in length, the same as 26 cricket bats lined
up nose to tail. The American Hardwood Export Council
(AHEC) Grown in Seconds sustainability calculator shows
that the 100m 3 of American white oak lumber used to
fabricate the beams will have taken 160 seconds to grow
back in the American forest.
“The beams extend back, and we use the same roof
fabric, but double-skinned with a mid-layer of Aerogel
insulation,” says Johnson. “We have the same translucency,
but, combined with double glazing and renewables,
including ground source heating, it enables the building to