Lords Media Centre
Our expertise in working aluminum into curved, non-linear forms led the company to be commissioned by the leading architects, Future Systems, to create the revolutionary NatWest Media Centre at Lord’s cricket ground in London, the most famous cricket stadium in the world.
The 100-tonne Media Centre, which consists of an aluminum skin supported by a rib-like framework, attracted a huge amount of media comment and interest once its distinctive profile was completed. It duly won First Prize at the Aluminum Extruders’ Association Awards.
The building was made in sections at our shipyard in Falmouth before being driven to London for assembly into a seamless structure. It was the first semi-monocoque building in the world, in that its aluminum skin not only gives the building its distinctive shape but also acts as support for the whole structure.
The bright modern interior accommodates 135 print journalists on the tiered lower deck and a further 50 radio and TV commentators in sound proof booths on the mezzanine above. An uninterrupted view of the whole ground is provided to all the journalists through the 9-degree inclined glass front wall which has been carefully designed not to reflect sunlight onto the playing area.
The Media Centre has attracted enormous interest in both the national and architectural press and has been widely praised for its extraordinary technical achievements inherent in the futuristic design and innovative construction.
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