Black mass-timber cricket pavilion lands on Dulwich Common

A new cricket pavilion on Dulwich Common in south London is 100 square meters smaller than the building it replaced. Andy Matthews Studio designed the black, mono-pitch structure for Streatham & Marlborough Cricket Club, which plays on the adjoining main pitch.

The project is a direct rebuke to the default economics of community sport. "Community clubs often end up with rudimentary, unimaginative buildings, or adapted shipping containers, due to limited budgets available," studio founder Andy Matthews told Dezeen.

"Despite budget constraints, the project proposes the idea that clubs and community groups can achieve, and deserve, site-specific generous light-filled spaces rather than off-the-shelf generic design," he said.

What does the building look like?

Traditional cricket pavilions are white with pitched roofs. This one inverts both signals. It has a mono-pitch roof, clad in black Japanese burnt larch, set against a single white clock face.

"We took that traditional cricket pavilion form – a pitched roof – and twisted it by splitting it in two and extending the roof form to create the canopies that define the entrances and public areas while providing solar shading and little gathering spots," said Matthews.

The canopies do double duty as entrance markers and solar shading. The black skin is deliberate camouflage. "The black blends into the broad expanses of sky and landscape, giving the impression that it's been there a long while, part of nature just like the old willow tree," Matthews said.

How does the layout work?

The main mono-pitch volume holds a multipurpose hall. Full-height sliding glass doors enclose two sides and give views of both the main pitch and the secondary pitch. A large canopy overhangs the doors to create a protected outdoor viewing area.

A second, smaller mono-pitched volume contains the bar, kitchen and toilets. Two changing rooms open directly onto the pitch. Each has a toilet, showers and a bench angled so players can watch the game while getting ready.

What does this change for the club's finances?

The pavilion was designed to earn its keep. Matthews calls it "a robust, adaptable setting for pretty much all of life, seven days a week" — christenings, weddings, wakes, yoga classes, forest school, writing groups and community meetings.

"That versatility also makes the building financially sustainable," he said. "The revenue it generates pays for its upkeep, so the club shouldn't need to fundraise again."

The design meets England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB, the sport's governing body) requirements for modern cricket facilities while viewing both pitches from within.

Materials and construction

Matthews describes the building as "a modest, almost agricultural building within a landscape," externally clad in dark-stained timber and crowned with a black corrugated sheet metal roof. It uses mass timber (prefabricated engineered wood) to speed up construction and reduce carbon impact. Brown Building served as main contractor.

The wider consultant team includes structural engineer Constant Structural Design, M&E consultant CO2O Consulting, QS MESH Construction Consultancy, fire consultant Stantec and planning consultant CMA Planning.

Matthews frames the ambition beyond sport. "This contemporary response is designed to appeal to a wider and more diverse audience than might normally be associated with cricket in the UK," he said. If the rental model holds, the building could become a template for what budget-constrained community clubs can build instead of settling for shipping containers.