Marylebone Cricket Club appointed Populous as the architect of the South-Western project for redevelopment at Lord’s Cricket Ground. The £55M ($92M) project, which is subject to planning approvals from both Westminster City Council and MCC members, will be conducted over three winters, beginning in autumn '16 and finishing in time for Lord’s to potentially host an Ashes Test match and games at the Int'l Cricket Council Cricket World Cup in '19. The South-Western project encompasses eight areas of Lord’s: a replacement for the Tavern & Allen Stands, two new pavilion extensions, office and banqueting facilities in a revamped Thomas Lord Suite, an upgrade to the Tavern Pub, movement of the Grace Gates and new offices adjacent to the Memorial Block (Populous). The ARCHITECTS JOURNAL's Tim Clark wrote MCC CEO & Secretary Derek Brewer said, "It is vital that the club enhances the facilities of Lord’s, and with this appointment, together with progress made already, MCC is right on track with its masterplan." The wider development is set to cost approximately £200M ($335M) with the first two development phases worth approximately £90M ($151M) and scheduled to be completed by '19, with the remaining phases to be built between '19-27. Previous plans by Herzog & de Meuron "were shelved" (ARCHITECTS JOURNAL, 6/9).
