On the 21st July 2010, I had the great opportunity to watch the Australia v Pakistan test match at Headingley Cricket Ground in Yorkshire. This day was not only momentous due to the fact that it was my first test match as a present spectator, but I was also able to witness the new Carnegie Pavilion designed by British architect Professor William Alsop.
When I first approached the stadium from the road, the structure seemed very well disguised into its surrounding and pre-existing structure. I liked how the garden beds at the entrance to the pavilion reflected the shapes of the triangles on the pavilion’s outer skin. As I walked around the corner to the far end of the ground, it disappeared into the houses and unfortunately could no longer be seen. After my ticket was purchased, I passed through the turnstile and walked towards my seat the pavilion caught my eye. It is not only a purposeful facility but it also adds a touch of modernity and flair to cricket. I love the way it is totally different to its surrounding yet blends through shape of the existing structure and the green grass colour.
This extension to Headingley Cricket Ground, home of Yorkshire CC and the ECB, shows Alsop’s wackiness and overpowering aesthetics and takes architecture and cricket to a new stage of modernity. The pavilion has been designed with a double use in mind. Leeds Metropolitan University and the YCCC and ECB are combining university education with a sports complex, and with great success. The teaching room doubles up to become a high-class hospitality dinning room on match days, and the media centre is also used as an auditorium for students to experience another teaching medium. Its glass and metal external structure curves seamlessly with the stadiums original shape. All of the glass viewing areas are ceiling to floor high giving maximum light conditions and first class spectating facilities for high paying sports fans. The purple and green colour scheme has been inspired and chosen with the universities colour scheme in mind. This creates a link between the two so that the public are not just associating it with cricket.
So far, this extension has not been completed for long enough for a general thought to have emerged about the success of this building. If anything it will eventually be looked upon just like all of Alsop’s other works; dividing opinions. I’m glad to have had the chance to see it!
When I first approached the stadium from the road, the structure seemed very well disguised into its surrounding and pre-existing structure. I liked how the garden beds at the entrance to the pavilion reflected the shapes of the triangles on the pavilion’s outer skin. As I walked around the corner to the far end of the ground, it disappeared into the houses and unfortunately could no longer be seen. After my ticket was purchased, I passed through the turnstile and walked towards my seat the pavilion caught my eye. It is not only a purposeful facility but it also adds a touch of modernity and flair to cricket. I love the way it is totally different to its surrounding yet blends through shape of the existing structure and the green grass colour.
This extension to Headingley Cricket Ground, home of Yorkshire CC and the ECB, shows Alsop’s wackiness and overpowering aesthetics and takes architecture and cricket to a new stage of modernity. The pavilion has been designed with a double use in mind. Leeds Metropolitan University and the YCCC and ECB are combining university education with a sports complex, and with great success. The teaching room doubles up to become a high-class hospitality dinning room on match days, and the media centre is also used as an auditorium for students to experience another teaching medium. Its glass and metal external structure curves seamlessly with the stadiums original shape. All of the glass viewing areas are ceiling to floor high giving maximum light conditions and first class spectating facilities for high paying sports fans. The purple and green colour scheme has been inspired and chosen with the universities colour scheme in mind. This creates a link between the two so that the public are not just associating it with cricket.
So far, this extension has not been completed for long enough for a general thought to have emerged about the success of this building. If anything it will eventually be looked upon just like all of Alsop’s other works; dividing opinions. I’m glad to have had the chance to see it!
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