星空传媒

The Brit Oval is one of the most famous cricket grounds in the world, and recognised around the globe by millions of the game鈥檚 highly devoted followers. It is also the oldest Test Match venue, having played host to the first Ashes contest way back in 1882.

Although the ground has witnessed memorable matches and individual feats unparalleled in the history of cricket 鈥� anyone remember Devon Malcolm鈥檚 explosive destruction of South Africa鈥檚 exalted top order batsmen in 1994? 鈥� in recent times it has failed to pass muster in comparison with other English cricketing arenas, most notably in the provision of modern facilities.

Sadly, these past few years have seen The Brit Oval gain an unwanted reputation for being a sprawling, unlovely ground. A reputation which must be turned on its head if Surrey County Cricket Club鈥檚 (CCC) 鈥榮taging agreement鈥� with the England and Wales Cricket Board (guaranteeing The Brit Oval at least one One-Day International and a Test Match every summer through until 2022) is not to be threatened at some point.

Lord鈥檚, in leafy St John鈥檚 Wood, has tended to overshadow its neighbour in the Capital, itself reaping the benefits of continual and major upgrades. The NatWest Media Centre at The Nursery End is now almost as famous a landmark as the Old Father Time weathervane has always been, while the Home of Cricket鈥檚 capacity has risen to over 30,000 thanks to the rebuilding of the famous Grand Stand where Old Father Time once resided.

More recently, Hampshire County Cricket Club has moved into a brand new, purpose-built stadium 鈥� The Rose Bowl, which has already been used to good commercial effect in staging concerts by bands including Oasis 鈥� while new stands have also been added to those famous Test Match venues at Edgbaston (the home of Warwickshire CCC) and Yorkshire CCC鈥檚 Headingley. Clearly, it was time for Surrey CCC to jump on the bandwagon...

Surrey CCC chief executive Paul Sheldon鈥檚 bold plans for a 拢25 million ground redevelopment have their roots in February 2004, when 鈥榮ponsorship鈥� monies were received from the Duchy of Cornwall, a Sport England Lottery grant and numerous private donations. The main focus for the redevelopment has been the provision of the new OCS Stand at the ground鈥檚 Vauxhall End. Designed by HOK-SVE, the architect behind Cardiff鈥檚 fabulous Millennium Stadium, this has added an extra 4,000 seats (in turn raising The Brit Oval鈥檚 capacity to 23,000).

Surrey CCC鈥檚 promotional brochure describes the new OCS Stand as being 鈥渃overed by a dramatic, lightweight roof that will become an important landmark. The OCS Stand follows the natural shape of the site, tapering at either side to retain visual interest, rising to a maximum of four stories and incorporating three levels of conference and banqueting facilities.鈥�

Those corporate entertainment facilities are all-important, as this is the prime revenue stream for most County cricket clubs. The OCS Stand can seat over 600 delegates in its Premier Suite, with smaller suites able to accommodate anything from 40 through to 340 guests. The third tier of the stand is totally dedicated to hospitality boxes, catering for up to 48 guests for private meetings.

Health and Safety鈥� and security

A major part of the redevelopment 鈥� which ultimately affected the existing Pavilion buildings as well as the new stand 鈥� centred on the provision of an integrated voice alarm and PA system. Such a system is an extremely vital outlet for broadcasting entertainment and important security-related messages.

The system was designed by Millbank, now part of Vision Systems and well-known for its Adpro video security and Vesda smoke detection brands. Millbank was specified on the project by Hilton 星空传媒 Services, a leading contractor boasting a history of first-class sports stadium installations.

The new PA and voice alarm capabilities open to Vision have been exploited to the full in The Brit Oval project. A powerful, multi-functional system has been designed that combines prerequisite evacuation facilities with the aforementioned entertainment and presentation capabilities.

Neil Voce 鈥� business development director and voice alarm specialist at Vision Systems 鈥� told Security Management Today that the design for the new Vauxhall End had been conceived as a complete standalone system, capable of 鈥榠nstruct鈥�, 鈥榠nform鈥� and 鈥榚ntertain鈥� functions, in turn moving away from what he describes as the 鈥済rudge purchase mentality鈥� when it comes to security.

鈥業nstruct鈥� encompasses the evacuation of a stadium or the issuing of other safety announcements. 鈥業nform鈥� covers the useful commentary and functional announcements that take place every day inside a stadium such as The Brit Oval, and 鈥榚ntertainment鈥� (while self-explanatory as a concept) also encompasses the idea that music can be routed to particular areas, including a range of local inputs confined to hospitality zones.

Separately-addressable zones

鈥淚n discussions with The Brit Oval鈥檚 facilities manager Carl Partridge, it became apparent early on in the project that the system would also need to control sound in the older Pavilion End, and be able to accept inputs from this end for commentary,鈥� states Voce. 鈥淭he 1980s system fitted at that time was not covering the client鈥檚 basic requirements. It was only really operating as one single zone, and was totally devoid of any of the main safety features, such as battery back-up. That being the case, we entered into negotiations with Surrey CCC to replace the old system.鈥�

The installation of the new system, which deploys fireproof cabling and offers eight separately-addressable zones, began in January this year. 鈥淭he installation has been a complex project due to the age and infrastructure of the existing main Pavilion, which comprises three different buildings,鈥� adds Voce. One system now fits all.

The various parts of the system address the need for a basic evacuation task alongside the commercial requirements of a modern, multi-purpose venue operation. For example, 鈥楶olice Control鈥� has an override microphone for evacuation purposes only, which is used while the ground is occupied. There is also an automatic evacuation message, driven by the fire alarm system to evacuate the buildings should a fire scenario arise.

Match Day Control Centre

The primary input for everyday use is the commentary, and in order to offer flexibility for broadcasts, a Sennheiser Mikroport hand-held radio microphone is being used. This is overridden by a priority paging microphone driven from a touch screen in the Match Day Control Centre. The paging input can also be used for a basic Surrey CCC club message, as distinct from the actual commentary service.

There are also specific inputs relating to individual zones. The main hospitality areas in the new building are equipped with audio-input sockets that route only into their own zones, allowing corporate clients of The Brit Oval to use the VA speakers in the zones for presentation material as well as radio microphones. Voce is a firm believer that incorporating these additional facilities into the system will be vital in enabling Surrey CCC to generate the revenue levels it seeks through corporate bookings.

Anthony Hildebrand is assistant editor of Security Installer (SMT鈥檚 sister title published by CMP Information)