Bath Rugby Club currently plays at the Recreation Ground, christened The Rec, next to the River Avon. The club plans to convert it to a bigger capacity stadium. The new 25,000-capacity stadium will be designed as an all year round mixed-use development capable of hosting other sporting matches, such as Twenty20 cricket, and cultural events.
The club’s new stadium, which is a multi-purpose recreational and cultural facility, is likely to be C-shaped, and the eastern side will consist of a temporary stand that can be removed to accommodate Twenty20 cricket matches.
The club has considered alternative sites in the city and on the outskirts but decided to try and remain at its historic home, where it has been playing matches since 1884.
The club is planning to stage a series of public consultations with Bath residents in early 2011. Bath-based practice Feilden Clegg Bradley would be asked to detail how the new facility would work within its present setting. PPS Group is managing the public consultation procedure. FCBS has defeated five other shortlisted practices to win the Bath Rugby Club’s stadium redesign scheme.
Feilden Clegg Bradley is working with Pattern Design, heritage expert Robert Tavernor and Bath landscape architect Grant Associates.
