Project Description

We know the score: Experience delivers an impressive result.

The American Express Elite Football Performance Centre in Sussex is home to the state-of-the-art training and teaching facility for Brighton and Hove Albion football club, and widely recognised as one of the best training facilities in England.

The complex in Lancing includes 13 full and smaller sized pitches, as well as a half sized, covered indoor pitch that allows players to train in all weathers. The distinctive Y-shaped building provides accommodation for the club’s professional and academy teams on two separate wings, and the third houses a gym, media centre and medical facilities.

The multi-million-pound development of the facility was awarded to main contractor Buckingham Group in 2014, who brought us in for the first phase of the build, and again in summer 2020 to install SFS and insulated render for the second phase.

Having worked with Buckingham Group on the first and second phases of the development for Brighton’s Premier league team, we were pleased to be back in East Sussex in Autumn 2020 to undertake works at ‘the hub’, a building situated within the training grounds.

Our scope for this project was in line with the first and second stages of the development, assembling and installing the Kingspan Steel Framing System on site, sheathing the SFS with Cemboard CP board and fixing the Wetherby insulated render system.

Commenting on the decision to use us again for the project, Kevin Rowland, Project Manager at Buckingham Group, explained, “We’ve worked with Eden Facades before, and know that their design, fitting, and attention to detail is excellent. The system they installed is very quick and clean, we were very impressed.”

In keeping with the main building, 170mm EPS Wetherby insulated render system was specified, in grey and white colourways. Also in line with the first and second phases was the ashlar detailing in the grey EWI. Mimicking ashlar substrate, the insulation needed to be cut with a hot knife tool, which requires good attention to detail to keep the crisp lines straight.

Using our head(er)s

Our many years’ experience, in addition to our good working relationship with the team at Buckingham Group, meant that we were able to apply our knowledge to a specific area of the hub which needed to be resolved.

“There were some additional works needed to close up the two soffits on the hub building, and we asked Eden Facades if they could come up with a solution,” Kevin explains, “Paul (Michaelson) designed a hangar system with an L-shaped rail & aluminium profiles, which was powder coated and looks fantastic.”

We extend the same attention to detail on all our projects, and at the hub we needed to ensure that the brise soleil panelling lined up precisely with the joints. Steve Mountford, who was the Eden Facades Site Manager on the project, comments, “As we used the same team for the hub that had worked on the main building, we knew exactly how best to achieve what was needed, which made the process very efficient.”

All projects can be subject to delays, and at Eden Facades we are used to dealing with all types of potential set-back, but nobody could have prepared for the disruption caused by the pandemic. The site was closed for several months as a result of lockdowns caused by Covid-19, which meant adjusting the project schedule.

“The club understandably took the decision to close the site for two months over lockdown, and when we were allowed back, access to the site was restricted due to social distancing guidelines,” comments Kevin, “but we’re really pleased with how the project has gone, particularly considering it’s been a bit ‘stop start’. Eden Facades have a positive, collaborative attitude and we’re very impressed with the high standard of work they produce. We look forward to working with them again in the future.”

Now the project is complete, the final finish achieved on the hub is a perfect match with the overall aesthetic of the main building – fit for the Premier League!

Read more about the work we completed on the main building at the Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club.

To see more of our recent work, visit our Projects page or sign up to receive our regular newsletter. If you’d like to discuss your next project, give us a call on 01268 744199, or email office@edenfacades.co.uk.