Breathing New Life Into an Icon
The Renovation of Eden Gardens Cricket Stadium
As one of the premiere host venues for the 2011 Cricket World Cup, Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata, India, is undergoing redevelopment work to upgrade and improve the facility before tournament play begins. The Cricket Association of Bengal called for renovations to the 50-year-old facility, which is home to the Bengal Cricket team and IPL’s Kolkata Knight Riders, challenging Burt Hill to create a world-class sports facility that inspires a sense of pride in the players, staff, and in the city itself. In addition to being an eye-catching stadium for the World Cup, the stadium must also meet the programmatic needs of the regular cricket season and special events.
Scheduled to be unveiled in December, the $32 million project involves compete restructuring of the stadium, including replacing the decades-old concrete seats with comfortable world-class plastic chairs. It also includes a new clubhouse and players’ facilities, upgrades to the exterior wall, a new metal skin for the existing roof, and upgraded patron amenities. The stadium will have a total seating capacity of 70,000. The introduction of bucket seats, the addition of suites and VIP boxes, and enhanced concessions will increase comfort levels for spectators. A new, unique press box facility is suspended from the top of the clubhouse. Additional practice facilities will also be located within the stadium complex.
“The design concept was to have a modern stadium that attempts to increase the numbers of seats that are close to the field and thereby more desirable and sellable to fans. Also, emphasis was given towards building attractive concession areas, club seats and luxury boxes, and other design features that increase monetary streams that can go to the Cricket Association of Bengal,” says Satish Vayuvegula, Burt Hill’s project architect.
Burt Hill’s functional design features a two-way curvilinear roof whose tubular sections provide not only aesthetic value, but also structural support. The diagonal layout of the sections helps spread structural loads and backlighting adds a dramatic visual effect.
Project Team
Burt Hill is responsible for the project’s vision and concept design, as well as master planning and landscape architecture services. Additional project team members include VMS (design integration, project monitoring and control, structural design, plumbing design, site infrastructure, and procurement management), Antech Consultants (electrical work), Studio I (lighting design), and Mihir N. Patel (HVAC).
The project was recently featured in The Sporting Brief online. Visit www.thesportbriefing.com to read the project profile, “Revamp to Create True Garden of Eden.”
