This guidance covers artificial sports
surfaces, including design and material selection of artificial
surfaces for a range of outdoor sports using artificial grass
pitches, needle punch play surfaces and polymeric
surfaces.
It replaces our original design guides
‘Multi-Use Games Areas Volumes 1 to 3 which have now been
withdrawn.
This new Design Guidance Note considers design
issues for a wide range of outdoor sport spaces including pitches,
single sports use courts and multi-use games areas (MUGAs) with
artificial surfaces constructed from various combinations of
man-made materials 1. It is concerned with optimising the provision
of all such facilities whether they are located in new or existing
schools, local parks, sports clubs or as part of larger
regeneration projects.
This guidance note has been developed by
- Sport England
- England Hockey Board
- Football Association
- Football Foundation
- Rugby Football League
- Rugby Football Union
It is intended to provide a simple, consistent, agreed
methodology and approach to selecting the right type of artificial
grass surface for playing hockey, football, rugby union and rugby
league. Rev 2 includes updated document to reflect comments
regarding long pile.
This checklist provides standard sizes (minimum/maximum) for
indoor and outdoor courts and pitches, associated run-off margins
and links to the National Governing Bodies for Sport.
This briefing note covers replacement of
artificial surfaces for flat green bowling and gives advice
including: when this might be required; performance standards;
construction & scope of work; available surfaces; certification
and budget examples. It also assists in making decisions to
proceeding and the importance of maintaining the surface once it
has been laid.
Artificial surfaces case studies
The following case studies have been produced
to capture evidence of schemes including artificial surfaces for
sport that are considered by SE as good quality
facilities.
Croydon
- Coloma Girls School (comp 2011)
Replacement of
existing cinder pitch with new 3G pitch - including 70 x 52m
pitch
for football and lacrosse, artificial sports lighting, 4.5m
high fencing, gates and goals.
Devon -
Denbury Village Hall Development (comp 2012)
Construction of a new macadam surfaced floodlit multi-use games
area (MUGA) for tennis and netball constructed on a green
field site meeting Lawn Tennis Association and England Netball
requirements.
London -
Feltham Community College (comp 2012)
Resurfacing of two 10-year-old sand-filled artificial grass
pitches. One covered with a new third-generation, (3G),
artificial grass carpet for association football and
mini-soccer. The other has a new sand-filled fibrillated
artificial grass surface for association football, hockey and
mini-soccer.
Merton - St Mark's Academy (comp
2012)
Construction
of a ‘regional standard’ floodlit BMX track on a parcel of land
adjacent to the existing Academy including the installation of: a
start gate; staging pens behind the start hill; a shipping
container for compressor and bike storage and four areas for
officials on the inside of the track.
Northumberland - The King Edward VI School (comp
2012)
Recycling of
a water-based artificial grass hockey carpet from an existing
Sports Centre, upgrading an existing hard porous mineral sports
pitch to an artificial grass pitch.
York -
Acomb Cricket Club (comp 2012)
Construction of a two-bay cricket practice
facility including a permanent batting cage using a ‘non-turf’
surfacing system approved by the England and Wales Cricket Board
(ECB).
A list of facility and lifecycle costs for the development of
community sports based on providing good quality sports
facilities.