Case Study
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club has a proud and illustrious history going back to 1863. So when the Club undertook a £21 million building programme for a new 4,000m2 pavilion at the Kirkstall Lane end, they demanded changing room facilities fit for the 21st century cricketer.
Yorkshire is one of just 12 grounds in the country that is able to host Test match cricket, which is one of the biggest sources of income for a club. In order to be eligible, however, Clubs have to meet ECB’s stringent rules, one of which is the design of the changing rooms. In response Yorkshire CCC turned to Link Lockers, relying on the company’s long-established reputation for excellence.
The Club was not disappointed. Link Lockers pulled out all the stops to provide innovative bespoke storage for home and visiting players that were fit for both county and international games. It was the first time the Cricket Club had its own changing rooms – before the new pavilion, it had shared them with adjoining neighbours Leeds Rhinos Rugby Club – and it wanted them to be exactly right for not only their players, but for visiting players from national and international teams.
Link Lockers’ designers worked closely with Yorkshire CCC Operations Director David Ryder to design 15 lockers and changing areas in each of the home and away changing rooms that met the very strict English Cricket Board specifications. Sport England/ECB guidelines state that each player needs 500mm bench length at a depth of 450mm. To accommodate this, Link Lockers came up with a pioneering design to carefully consider the needs of players in line with the space available and to match their needs and maximise space. The company created and fitted bespoke floor-mounted horizontal lockers that are colour co- ordinated in light oak mdf, and supplied individual bench seating alongside. The result is not just a state-of-the-art locker room design, it is one of a kind.
Each locker is 500m wide x 700m height x 1000 depth and the tops have been reinforced with upgraded quality light oak MDF to take the weight of the players’ kit
bags. Above each of the lockers is a matching hook board, where players can hang clothing. Two of the lockers in the scheme also utilised an unusual top opening design to ensure the whole space was maximised. The full space was fully maximised, thanks to the clever finishing by Link Lockers expert designers, who also used in-built seating and infills in the corners, which means there are no gaps for clutter or dust to gather.
Gary Lomax, Sales Manager for Link Lockers, said not only did the design maximise the space i the changing rooms, it adhered to ECB guidelines. “This was a
challenging brief because of the very strict standards applied by the ECB, but we were able to use the might of our unique design expertise to ensure that the lockers were strong, durable and used the space available well,” he explains. Link Lockers also provided traditional facilities in the coaches’ changing rooms, with vertical lockers, seating and a desk.
The Client says:
David Ryder praised Link Lockers for its work to complete the work and installation in record time, ensuring it could be used in time for the T20 match against Warwickshire on July 4, 2010. “We have worked with Link Lockers before as they have worked on smaller projects and have supplied us with temporary lockers and we were very happy in our dealings with them,” said Mr Ryder.
“With major building work such as this, delays were inevitable, but we had very good communication with Link Lockers all the way through and they were very
accommodating to help us achieve the challenging deadlines. “They are a very easy company to work with. We had very specific requirements about the changing room spaces so that players could have space and easy access to kit bags, so this was very much a bespoke project. “Not only are the lockers fit for purpose and functional, they are all finished off well and look right. We can now confidently meet ECB guidelines and attract more international matches, which
will benefit the Club and its members financially and raise the profile of the Club as a centre of excellence for hosting international matches.”
To find out more about our Wooden MFC Lockers please call 08000 733 300.