Redevelopment will include new hotel and redevloped stand

Work to redevelop Edgbaston cricket ground ahead of the 2027 Ashes against Australia has been given the green light by Birmingham city council.

The £42m scheme will involve building a new hotel at the site as well as redeveloping a stand at the ground in time for the Test match against Australia in two summers’ time.

The job, which has been designed by Liverpool architect KKA, is due to get going this September and will see a 146-bed Radisson Red hotel built while the current Priory and Raglan Stands will be replaced with a 3,191-seat stand, alongside a new concourse.

stand

How the new stand at Edgbaston will look

Others working on the job include PM and QS Arcadis, structural engineer Robert Bird and executive project manager Quadro Management. Planning consultant is Turley while the M&E engineer is Griffith Evans.

The hotel is expected to have 60,000 guests every year and Craig Flindall, Edgbaston strategy director, said: “Cricket will always stay at the heart of our thinking. But it’s important we develop a stadium that operates all year round.

“We are creating a mixed-use destination that will combine elite sport, conferencing and events and residential and hotel accommodation with community facilities that will improve education, employment and social cohesion in the area.”

West Midlands Combined Authority is backing the project with an £18m loan.

The Marylebone Cricket Club has begun work on costing its revised stand rebuild at Lord’s in London after failing to agree a figure for the work with original contractor Graham.

The Northern Irish firm was appointed to redevelop both the Tavern Stand and demolish and rebuild the Allen Stand with the cost estimated to be around £60m.

But the firm is now off the job after the MCC said it could not agree a price for the work which will increase capacity at the ground by more than 1,000.

The MCC has instead decided to concentrate on the Allen Stand as a priority because of its poor condition, which it wants to let as a single stage, fixed-price job.

It said it is hoping work on the Allen Stand will start this autumn for completion in spring 2027 – ahead of Ashes match against Australia.

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