Centurion House & Bath Cricket Club

Technically challenging mixed-use development, delivered in a sensitive setting, allows cricket club to provide enhanced community outreach.

This mixed-use development provides a new cricket school and 142-bed student living complex in the city of Bath.

Bath Cricket Club was looking to generate additional revenue from its city centre site to allow for the delivery of a new three-lane indoor cricket facility and an enhanced community outreach programme.

The site, which lies immediately east of the cricket ground, is situated within the Bath conservation area and World Heritage Site. It consisted of a dilapidated shed building and a car park which provided an important income stream for the club.

Bath Cricket Club and developer Gilltown approached us to explore ways to unlock this technically difficult site. Our solution was to create a student living development above the existing car park. The design not only allows Bath Cricket Club to retain their parking revenue, but it visually screens the exposed car park to bring improvements to the wider setting.

The student accommodation was designed with generous communal spaces and leafy views out. Constructed within the same building envelope but as a separate element, the new indoor cricket school faces the pitch and picks up the curve of the boundary. As well as a space for cricket practice, the large volume of the cricket school allows the facility to be used for other community events and functions.

“An amazing facility that our players and members can’t wait to start using, the building provides us the opportunity to continue developing local cricketers and giving the community a state-of-the-art facility to enjoy.”

Matt Hankins, Chairman of Bath Cricket Club

A considerable number of constraints were managed in creating the design, including; flood mitigation measures; the close proximity of mature trees; and, the historically sensitive environment.

The project completed in 2022 and achieved BREEAM ‘Excellent’ status.