ECB | Design Guidance Note (DGN)

Client: England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) 

Research study, architectural design, drawings and diagrams.

Following the successful launch of a pilot project at Bradford Park Avenue, the ECB commissioned gcp to aid them in the delivery of a development prospectus and DGN to support a national roll-out of Covered Outdoor Cricket Facilities. These weather-protected facilities will fuel participation in all levels of cricket, from grassroots up to the professional game. They also represent a significant cost-saving compared to traditional indoor practice nets. Retractable lane netting allows for a variety of formats, from single lane practice, to an open match play environment or varying divisible training zones.

The DGN sits alongside other publicly available technical guidance published  by the ECB, including TS7 Indoor Cricket Facilities Design Guidelines which was also developed by gcp. 

gcp led a team of sub-consultants including structural engineer, acoustic consultant, quantity surveyor and accessibility consultant, to develop a technically resolved and flexible design, capable of adaptation to suit specific site requirements. gcp then developed drawings, diagrams, text and photography for use in the final ECB-branded documents.

gcp developed a flexible design framework that enables interested parties to adapt the design to suit site specific physical and social contexts, whilst maintaining the strict spatial and performance parameters required by the ECB.

The project required an ‘inside-out’ approach to design. 3, 5 or 7 lane formats can be achieved by replicating the single lane blueprint.

Above: Research photography from Bradford Park Avenue Pilot facility