Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), owner of Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, has today announced plans for a £4m refurbishment of the venue’s iconic J.P. Morgan Media Centre.
Work will take place over the course of the next two winters – to avoid disruption to the summer cricket seasons – and the improved media facility will be unveiled in time for the 2017 season - when Lord’s will host the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Final.
The Stirling prize-winning building, designed by Future Systems architects, will receive its first makeover since its opening in 1999.
MCC has developed the J.P. Morgan Media Centre refurbishment plans in association with David Miller Architects, who also worked on the original design in the late 1990s, with the project being managed by Gardiner Theobold.
Once complete, the centre will have ten permanent TV and radio broadcast boxes – one less than at present but of increased size and flexibility, and more suited to modern-day broadcasting requirements.
The Writers’ Area will increase in size from 120 to 144 spaces, while facilities for photographers will also be upgraded, with an additional five spaces (30 in total) available in an expanded area on the mezzanine level of the building.
The existing bar will be relocated to a larger facility serving the dining area, which will in turn provide more usable dining space in which to accommodate the higher demand from the increased number of users.
While the outside of the building will be unchanged, subject to planning approval, the gantry beneath the shell will be extended in width and brought forward to improve the vertical line of sight for television cameras.
The £4m media centre project is part of a larger, £200m redevelopment of Lord’s.
The phased plan commenced with the redevelopment of the Warner Stand in the autumn of 2014 and is set to finish with the reconstruction of the Compton and Edrich Stands in 2027. When complete, the capacity will increase by 2,700 to 32,000.
The first phases of development, totaling £90m from 2014-2019, will be funded entirely from the MCC's own resources. The remaining phases, from 2021-2027, will be funded through a combination of MCC funds and “sensible levels of borrowing”.
