Dramatic Lord’s revamp plans revealed

Article posted by Coliseum, March 13^th, 2026

Image: Lord's Cricket Stadium, Natesh Ramasamy, CC BY 2.0

Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has unveiled initial plans to modernise the Nursery End at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London with a new glass-fronted pavilion.

The Sun said the scheme was revealed to members with blueprints including ditching the “prison wall” at the end of Wellington Road.

The so called prison wall is a tall wall without an opening which blocks off any view into or out of the Nursery Ground, where nets are situated just behind the main pitch and stadium.

The aim would be to build two new apartment blocks at either end of the new development with the sale of flats helping to pay for the regeneration project.

There are further plans to turn the new wall into a museum between the 12-storey blocks for those coming from St John’s Wood Underground station. The museum is currently situated at the other end of the ground behind the Pavilion.

The MCC is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord’s Cricket Ground which it owns. The club, formerly the governing body of cricket, retains considerable global influence.

The 31,100-capacity Lord’s Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord’s, is a cricket venue in St John’s Wood, London (UK). Named after its Founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by the MCC and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club. Lord’s is widely referred to as the Home of Cricket.

Work on redevelopment of the historic Allen Stand at Lord’s Cricket Ground got underway last year just a few days after the last international of the season at the Home of Cricket.

The project will recreate the distinct presence of the current stand, while significantly improving on its comfort, facilities and accessibility for Members and guests.

The MCC are also said to have laid out designs for the Tavern Stand – to the left of the Nursery End facing inwards – with the Thomas Lord building potentially turning into a cafe and shop.

The club confirmed planning consent for the Allen and Tavern stands in 2024 with the hope to finish work before the 2027 home Ashes.

No agreement over the plans has been reached yet and would need voting on by members with planning permission taking at least two years.

Lord’s is currently owned by its 18,500 paying members with recent redevelopments of the Compton and Edrich Stands either side of the Nursery End making changes necessary.

The capacity is just over 31,000 but there has been criticism in the past of Lord’s not moving into the 21st century.

Members voted strongly against developments to the Nursery End in 2017 but the new Compton and Edrich Stands have already blocked out views of the famous St John’s Wood treeline.

Those stands would also stop the new flats from being massively visible, it is said.

Lord’s is the only ground in England which hosts two Test matches each year despite recent calls to scrap one and move further north.

Over the summer England will play New Zealand there in early June as well as Pakistan at the end of August.

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