Hall Grove School Pavilion

This beautiful cricket pavilion is our third architectural commission from Alastair Graham at Hall Grove School. The brief was to build a structure to grace the playing fields, which we think our architect Christopher, has achieved with great success. Pairs of braces in every bay bring rhythm and order to the elevations as well as being structurally important.

The view across the cricket pitch from within the building forms a classic pastoral scene, perfect for an afternoon game of cricket. The central bay has a dormer which will carry the clock when fitted.

We used an early style of carpentry for pitching the roof, as seen here, where the hip rafter lies in the plane of the hip end, and the commons are cut onto it with a simple splay on one side and a compound splay on the other. Note the fanning of the hip jack rafters, a common device in Mediaeval cut roofs.

Classic King post trusses grace the roof structure. Omitting the roofing felt was a deliberate decision to allow the tile and batten to remain visible, an effect we think works really well.

Several design features are noteworthy; an open eave allows the expression of the rafter feet, balusters are set on the diagonal to create an attractive balustrade, and the gablets are fitted with louvres to let light filter into the building at high level.