Edgbaston Cricket School
Birmingham
The new school is the first step in a general improvement of the whole Edgbaston ground. Until now, the cricket ground, in a purely physical sense, had turned its back on the local community with the near side of the stands and car-parking being the only visible elements of the club. The building is first visible from Pershore Road, a main arterial route into Birmingham city centre.
The initial brief suggested that a uniform lighting level of around 1200 lux was needed over the playing surface. In the design of the MCC building a number of roof solutions were considered including a translucent roof that, with 24% translucency, would produce the right lighting levels. However variable sky conditions could not be effectively controlled and the designers and their clients were concerned about batsmen being unable to see cricket balls speeding towards them in excess of 100 mph. Consequently, the tried and trusted northlight solution was implemented. Commonly used in factories built between the wars, the concept uses light from the diffuse part of the sky as it is easier to control. The partially glazed roof negates the requirement for artificial light under all but the gloomiest of circumstances. The overall structural solution has been designed around this key function of the roof.
The choice of a pre-finished steel roof, combined with the northlighting allowed the seamless integration of these two fundamental portions of the roof using Colorcoat HPS200® in white as the roof was an obvious choice continuing the cricket metaphor and providing best guaranteed performance. The use of bright white lining enamel on the internal face of the roofing allowed for improved reflectivity of both natural and artificial light.
Even though using only northlight, further control to diffuse the light levels and even them out across the interior was necessary. Fireproof sculpted fabric blinds are used for this purpose. A canvas with good shape forming characteristics was selected, and these diffusers are suspended from the roof and each runs the length of the building. These elements also make a vital contribution to the acoustic environment, which would otherwise be excessively reverberant. Critically, Morley has continued to develop this manipulation of the building envelope to optimize internal conditions in a number of indoor sports facilities demonstrating the versatility of the pre-finished steel.
Colorcoat Connection® Helpline
Colorcoat HPS200 Ultra®
Now guaranteed for up to 40 years, Colorcoat HPS200 Ultra® pre-finished steel combines outstanding performance with unrivalled reliability and impressive sustainability credentials.
Fact file
Architects
David Morley Architects and Bryant Priest
Contractor
Moss Construction
Subcontractor
Unique Industrial Roofing
System type
Composite
Profile type
Trapezoidal
Colorcoat® Product
HPS200® (roof)
