Kia Oval Construction
Precast Concrete Stadium Solution
The Kia Oval is a world renowned historic cricket ground, conference and events venue situated in Kennington, South London. The Oval has been the home of Surrey County Cricket Club since the ground was opened back in 1845 and was the first cricket ground in England to host International Test Cricket in 1880.
About the Project
In September 2015, the decision was made to demolish the existing Peter May and Tony Lock stands to make room for the construction of a larger stand named after Peter May, who led Surrey to consecutive county championships in 1957 and 1958, whilst additionally captaining England from 1955 to 1961, winning the Ashes in 1956.
Milbank Concrete Products, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of precast concrete products with a focus on exceptional customer service, were pleased to announce their involvement in the historic redevelopment project. Milbank were responsible for the design, manufacture, delivery, and installation of over 700 precast components, consisting of terrace units, stairs, and gable and vomitory walls, leading to the completion of the new stand which has a capacity of 6,300 seats, increasing the grounds overall capacity to 25,000.
Design, construction and logistics
Due to the oval structure of the stadium, each tier of terrace units was a different length and had splayed ends to form the desired circular layout. The detailing, planning, delivery sequence and setting out therefore required special attention to detail. As the gradient of the terrace was low (as is typical for a cricket stadium) this resulted in a small riser height in each tier. The terrace units therefore required deep down stands to enable spans of 7.5 metres and above to be achieved. 480no terrace units were provided in total, with the inclusion of over 200 individual precast concrete step units for the circulation areas.
The five vomitory areas included a range of precast concrete walls up to 4.3 metres high and stair units with 13 risers, 1390mm wide, to enable access to the terrace from the concourse. The stairs had integral top landings resulting in them being over 5 metres long with each weighing over 4.5 tonnes, more than twice the weight of a 2018 Range Rover Autobiography. Precast walls were also provided to the camera pit area and to one gable end of the stand. These had to be specially designed to hang off the side of the structure. In all, Milbank provided over 80no precast concrete walls.
Installation was complex as the restricted access meant that the precast could not be installed in one visit. Close co-ordination with the main contractor and steelwork contractor was required to enable the precast to be installed in four visits with precast installation alternating with the steel frame installation.
Due to early discussions on the project, Milbank were able to share the crane hire with the steelworker which resulted in a smooth transition between their works and the steel installation. Milbank worked closely with the local council for road closures and putting diversions in place for an extremely busy road network area.
The development also provided a wide range of new facilities for members and fans including a new rooftop terrace to host guests and member’s events.
The new stand was opened on the 15th of May 2016 where Surrey played host to Middlesex in their County Championship Division one match.
Due to the oval structure of the stadium, each tier of terrace units was a different length and had splayed ends to form the desired circular layout. The detailing, planning, delivery sequence and setting out therefore required special attention to detail. As the gradient of the terrace was low (as is typical for a cricket stadium) this resulted in a small riser height in each tier. The terrace units therefore required deep down stands to enable spans of 7.5 metres and above to be achieved. 480no terrace units were provided in total, with the inclusion of over 200 individual precast concrete step units for the circulation areas.
The five vomitory areas included a range of precast concrete walls up to 4.3 metres high and stair units with 13 risers, 1390mm wide, to enable access to the terrace from the concourse. The stairs had integral top landings resulting in them being over 5 metres long with each weighing over 4.5 tonnes, more than twice the weight of a 2018 Range Rover Autobiography. Precast walls were also provided to the camera pit area and to one gable end of the stand. These had to be specially designed to hang off the side of the structure. In all, Milbank provided over 80no precast concrete walls.
Installation was complex as the restricted access meant that the precast could not be installed in one visit. Close co-ordination with the main contractor and steelwork contractor was required to enable the precast to be installed in four visits with precast installation alternating with the steel frame installation.
Due to early discussions on the project, Milbank were able to share the crane hire with the steelworker which resulted in a smooth transition between their works and the steel installation. Milbank worked closely with the local council for road closures and putting diversions in place for an extremely busy road network area.
The development also provided a wide range of new facilities for members and fans including a new rooftop terrace to host guests and member’s events.
The new stand was opened on the 15th of May 2016 where Surrey played host to Middlesex in their County Championship Division one match.
The developer
Bennett Construction is an international family-owned construction services company with offices and projects in Dublin, London, and Germany.
The Bennett Group was founded in 1917 in Mullingar, Ireland. Since then, the group has grown dramatically in both size and reputation. They first entered the UK and particularly the London market in the mid 1980’s and are now an established market force with an experienced and focused team.
Bennett provides world-class construction and construction related services across a diverse range of industries and sectors. Their construction expertise, project approach and their value engineering ability can provide significant cost savings to their clients.
For more information, just visit their website by clicking here.
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