Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has embarked on its Ground Development Masterplan with the building of a new Warner Stand at Lord’s Cricket Ground. The new stand will have 2,656 seats, a new match-control and match officials’ facility, and a restaurant, three bars and catering facilities. It will have ground-source heat pumps to heat water, and photovoltaic roof panels generating electricity, as well as rainwater collection and recycling and "green" or living walls.
Incorporated within the design is a large basement that will accommodate waste sorting and storage facilities, plant rooms, a cellar and a staff mess room. This large fan-shaped basement measures up to 33m in length and 22m in width, and has been excavated within steel sheet piles, supported by proprietary props and waling beams supplied by Groundforce.
The company’s Mega Brace waling beams were installed around the perimeter of the sheet piled wall, some up to 17m long. They were then propped using 600mm diameter MP125 tubular struts measuring up to 21m in length. One of the reasons Groundforce Shorco was chosen to supply the propping was because it offered a solution that minimised the number of props spanning the excavation.
The complex geometry of the excavation includes many obtuse angles, which involved connecting the waling beams using just one pin connection, as opposed to the two pins that can be incorporated into a straight joint. Due to the shape, welding was required to eliminate shear and horizontal movement in the beam.
Additional constraints include the fact that truck size on the site is limited to 16 tonne rigid lorries. Groundforce Shorco worked closely with main contractor Bam Construct and subcontractor Berryrange, providing assistance with installation and removal, as well as welding details.
The stand Shell and core works were completed in July 2016.