Back in 2018, Northamptons’ University unveiled its new £330 million Waterside Campus, which after several years of construction became the largest newly built university campus since the 1960’s.
Designed to adapt to 21 st century teaching, the 58-acre site offers a full range of integrated learning environments which can cater for upto 14,000 students and 2,000 staff members whilst providing accommodation for up to 1000 students. Amongst the state-of-the-art facilities the site offers, is their full-sized FIFA/FA approved floodlit 3G pitch suitable for both football and rugby.
Outlined by the client from the outset, it was imperative that this pitch could not only be used for internal use, but also for external teams and the wider community for regular football and rugby matches. This made it imperative that the quality of the pitch matched the requirements needed for both sports, in terms of quality and performance.
Playrite were approached by Prestige Civils and Sports Ltd, who were awarded the construction contract for the sports pitches, to work closely together and find a solution that fulfilled the client’s specification. Using their knowledge of various league guidelines for both sports, the team at Playrite chose their Conqueror 60 MP 3G synthetic grass surface for this prestige project.
The Conqueror 60MP product is certified to World regulation 22 for Rugby and IMS / FIFA 1star equivalent for football, so it met all the required performance criteria levels outlined for the scheme.
Bradley Surfacing Systems Ltd, with whom Playrite have previously worked with on a number of successful projects, installed the Conqueror surface comprising over 7850 sq m 2 of material with inlaid lines for football and rugby.
Since the hugely impressive new complex was opened in 2018, the facilities within the sports campus continues to offer the highest standards to its students on a daily basis whilst also servicing the wider local community, with regular practice sessions and matches occurring throughout the sporting season.
