Andy Matthews Studio creates ‘modern’ cricket pavilion on Dulwich Common

Developed in consultation with the site’s landlord Dulwich Estate, Sport England and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the building is a ‘modern take’ on a cricket pavilion. It replaces a former single-storey 1950s pavilion, which had a footprint approximately 100m2 larger.

The pavilion on Dulwich Common for Streatham & Marlborough Cricket Club is positioned so it opens up to both the club’s cricket pitches simultaneously. It is also designed to host Hindu weddings, forest school sessions, community gatherings and a neighbourhood café-cum-bar.

The pavilion takes the familiar pitched-roof aesthetic and subverts it, splitting it in two with clerestory windows at ceiling level for natural ventilation and daylighting.

The roof cantilevers over the front and back of the building to form canopies for shelter from the rain and sun, as well as a social threshold space. A clock positioned at the highest point of the roof gives the pavilion a sense of civic presence.

The building is externally clad in Japanese burnt larch and has a corrugated metal sheet roof.

Inside, exposed timber cladding and natural BAUX acoustic panels bring warmth to the clubroom. Sliding glazing offers views across both cricket pitches, with one corner completely opening up.

The compact plan meets ECB regulations, providing a clubroom, two changing rooms, two match officials’ rooms, kitchen and supporting spaces. The building is also designed to extend laterally should the club grow.

The pavilion is on publicly accessible Metropolitan Open Land, and is bounded by a mains sewer and a large willow tree constraining its footprint, which presented challenges to its construction. The scheme sits on a series of screw piles to suit its soggy clay ground conditions, while a steel and timber structure quickened the build and reduced embodied carbon.

Taking a passive, fabric-first approach, the envelope has high levels of insulation, deep setbacks for shading and natural ventilation via clerestory glazing. Other strategies implemented include air-source heat pumps, mechanical ventilation to the changing rooms and MVHR.

The project was delivered through a fundraising effort by the club along with £706,000 funding from the UK government’s Community Ownership Fund and support from the ECB, the London Marathon Charitable Foundation, Sport England and the London Borough of Southwark.

The 550-member Streatham & Marlborough Cricket Club was formed in 2003 as a merger between two of London’s oldest clubs: Streatham Cricket Club, which was founded in 1805, and Marlborough Cricket Club, founded in 1870.

The previous pavilion, self-built by club members in the 1950s, had outlived its usefulness. Andy Matthews Studio was approached in 2023 after earlier redevelopment attempts had stalled through lack of funding.

The practice, which was founded just two years prior, won planning from Southwark Council for the pavilion in 2024.

Architect’s view

Streatham & Marlborough has been an extraordinary client to collaborate with. They are passionate about their club, their community and doing things properly. They’ve worked tirelessly to make this project happen, and we can’t wait to see it come to life through its ongoing use. This was always meant to be more than a cricket pavilion and it suits the nature of the club’s community outreach. It’s been a career highlight for me and our team. I can’t wait to see what the club and community make of it in the long term.

Andy Matthews, director, Andy Matthews Studio

Project data

Location Dulwich, London

Local authority London Borough of Southwark

Start on site Autumn 2024

Completion date Spring 2026

Gross internal floor area 250m2

Construction cost Undisclosed

Architect Andy Matthews Studio

Client Streatham & Marlborough Cricket Club

Structural engineer Cupola Design, Constant Structural Design

M&E consultant CO2O Consulting

Quantity surveyor MESH Construction Consultancy

Planning consultant CMA Planning

Fire consultant Stantec

Transport consultant Stantec

Acoustic consultant Noise Solutions

Principal designer Project Four Construction Safety

Arboriculturist and ecological consultant David Archer Associates

Main contractor Brown Building