Burton Upon Trent, UK - Sport
St George’s Park is the training home for all 24 of the England national football teams. The unique football facility focusses on coaching and education, including a leading centre of sports medicine and science. The park consists of 13 football pitches including a full size indoor 3G facility with spectator viewing galleries, one of the largest fabric roof structures in the UK and a multi purpose eight court indoor hall, as well as a 230 bed Hilton hotel with conferencing, banqueting, leisure and spa facilities.
Home of FA learning, the park is an inspirational centre for coach education which is actively raising the profile of coaching as a profession, providing a holistic career path into a range of sports careers.
From working closely with the board of the National Football Centre to secure planning approval for the site, teamwork was interlaced with every phase of the project. Collaboration was relished through stakeholder engagement, central government and local authority input, support from sports governing bodies, and a driven and motivated contractor and design team. St George’s Park, commenced on site 18 months after the initial briefing and was constructed in an impressive 72 weeks. Time was critical as the facility had to be complete in time for Great Britain football team to use as its base in advance of the 2012 Olympics.
Sir Bobby Charlton CBE
Director, Manchester United
The site is fittingly located in the heart of the English National Forest, populated with veteran oak trees and abundant wildlife, which is protected by the building arrangement. Leaning into the natural contours, the low lying design sees buildings float into the landscape to minimise any physical intervention, ensuring no building breaks the necklace of trees that surround the park.
Sustainability was one of the key tenets in designing St George’s Park. Measures implemented across the entire site maximise heating, cooling, and water reuse efficiency, and reduce the use of mechanical ventilation and excessive artificial lighting.
We are now acting as the overall guardian and owner of the design at St George’s Park and have recently completed the reconfiguration of the Hilton and Hampton by Hilton hotel reception, the education wings’ bespoke training facility, the reconfiguration of the football centers’ strength and conditioning gym, and the modification of the education and ‘teams’ offices to accommodate staff relocated from Wembley. We are currently reviewing the ongoing development of the masterplan for the park, with additional pitches, a staff and youth accommodation building, a warehouse and laundry facility, and additional changing pavilions, all to ensure it preserves its world class status.
Greg Dyke
Chairman, Football Association
