The ICC Cricket World Cup – Populous’ Richard Breslin and Paul Henry
April 24, 2015
Populous’ design for the South-Western Project at Lord’s Cricket Ground
The essential ingredient at Hagley Oval and in London during the Olympics was to stage the Event in the heart of the city.
Our work at Populous on a number of these Major Events has been about making a true connection with the city, planning for the long term usefulness of venues, creating great crowd atmosphere and capitalizing on the uniqueness of the event.
The long history and traditions of cricket is, in part, what makes it so unique, allowing designers to capture what is different and special within each individual ground, from great historic grounds such as Lord’s or the MCG, to the more boutique Westpac Stadium in Wellington, NZ, a ground designed specifically for cricket 15 years ago.
The Noise test is the ultimate success barometer at a cricket ground. Good design can mirror the effect of the legendary roar of a 93,000-strong MCG crowd at the 34,000 seat Westpac Stadium, although on a smaller scale.
As designers, creating atmosphere at a cricket ground is one of the greatest challenges, because the field is so large and the grandstands dispersed and often disconnected. It means we have to look at every innovation possible to create the best atmosphere.
Populous has worked on the MCG and Westpac Stadium and is currently designing the second phase of the Masterplan for the redevelopment of Lord’s, replacing the Tavern and Allen Stands, while currently also working on the new Warner Stand at the Ground.
We are working to retain what is best about the atmosphere and history of Lord’s while modernizing and improving the spectator experience.
At all cricket grounds the uniqueness of the game is reflected in a number of other ways. The game takes all day, if not five days, and its regular breaks allows much more movement of spectators around the ground than at other events.
This includes making use of the concourses in interactive ways, providing opportunities to engage with fans to a much greater level, and ultimately driving more revenue for the stadium.
The ICC Cricket World Cup saw an influx of visitors from around the world to Australia and New Zealand, providing even more opportunities such as tourism, as well as developing business links in a much more relaxed environment than normally exists.
There are also opportunities to engage the “remote” audience in special ways during a cricket match. One of these is to make the best use of the “players’ race” and build spaces where fans and cameras can get close to the players.
The cameras can follow players off the field. Another unique feature of cricket is that almost half the players are off the field at any one time, another opportunity for the cameras and fans to engage with the players.
The off- the- field players can become much more visible than at present so that they become a bigger part of the action.
Designers can play a big role not only in searching out ways to make those unique features of every sport more accessible to both the live and remote audiences, but also in working with the host city organisers to envisage the long term civic benefits.
A city should strive to make the Event work for the long term benefit of the community, with the right mix of permanent and temporary facilities, and in this way international events can become accessible to developing countries everywhere.
Richard Breslin is a Senior Principal at Populous and a Director of the Asian/Pacific office headquartered in Brisbane. Richard also sits on the worldwide strategic Board of Populous and is responsible for all of the firm’s projects in New Zealand and Australia.
Richard is currently leading the Populous team on the Darling Harbour Live project in Sydney in a HASSELL+ Populous joint venture. The $1B project includes the design of a convention centre, exhibition centre and theatre. He was Director in charge of the redevelopment of Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne.
In 1997, Richard began work with the team on the design of Stadium Australia (now ANZ Stadium), the main venue for the Sydney 2000 Olympics before moving to London where he worked on Wembley Stadium, and the design of the Soccer City Stadium in South Africa, for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He was also project leader for Populous’ successful master plan for the London 2012 Olympic Park.
In 2007, Richard headed home and led the teams on Eden Park redevelopment in Auckland and Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin in preparation for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Richard’s 
Paul is an internationally recognised expert in the design and master planning of stadia, racecourses, arena and the planning of Olympic Games.. Paul is a Senior Principal and sits on the global board of, Populous, as both an owner and CEO of the Asian region from the Brisbane base and he chairs the firm’s Global Strategic Committee.
During his extensive career, Paul has led the development of world renowned sports and entertainment buildings including the design of the Sydney Olympic Stadium, Suncorp stadium in Brisbane, Nanjing Sports Park in China, Taiwan Arena, and the racecourses for the Hong Kong Jockey Club as well as many other major stadia in Australia.
Many of Paul’s stadium designs have become a centerpiece for a city’s development, as well as showcasing Australian skills and expertise. Governments throughout Asia have invited Paul to lead discussions on the procurement and design of sports facilities to best suit the needs of a city and its community.
Paul’s