The University of Worcester's International Inclusive Cricket & Education Centre [IICEC] is a new international centre for inclusive cricket on the Severn Campus in Worcester. Our design looked to create a community-focused centre celebrating inclusivity and inspired by cricket - as the international centre for inclusive cricket, it was fundamental to us that the design of the new centre should tell the story of its use.

Our design draws on two key inspirations. The first is for the centre to be truly inclusive, ensuring that everybody, no matter of what physical or mental impairment, can use the building in the same way. A wide, shallow, sloped approach was developed to create a generous arrival into the building - lifting it up from the flood plain of the River Severn next door - and creating a sense of place through its scale and connection to the landscape. Inside, ramps connect the different internal levels celebrating how people move through the building and bringing a design legibility.

The second is for the centre to be inspired by cricket. The design is informed by the beautiful geometry of the cricket bat - so simple and yet three-dimensionally complex at the same time - to create a sculptural and undulating roof form that gives the building its identity. North facing rooflights flood the space with natural light and bring the building to life. Inside, the geometry is spatially exciting with visual connections between the cricket hall and key adjacent spaces so that the activity within the cricket hall gives an energy to the whole.