Having already successfully worked for the Clubs on the newly constructed SISGrass field at Madejski Stadium in 2017, the Bearwood project gave us the opportunity to continue our working relationship with FC Reading for the follow-up of the construction and maintenance process.
Reading Football Club purchased the 120 acres of land in 2013 with the vision of building a state-of-the-art training centre. The land had once been part of the Windsor Forest and Royal Hunting Grounds and in 1970 it was redeveloped into Bearwood Golf Club. The work included the construction of a new 11-hole state-of-the-art training complex on the site of a redundant golf course. For the First Team, a reinforced sand course with underfloor heating was installed, as well as two SIS turf fields built to match the playing surface of the Madejski Stadium, while mixed youth fields were installed to support the club's classification as a Class 1 academy.
Scope of works
- Demolition, site clean-up and off-site removal of existing golf course surfaces and features.
- Stripping, preservation and screening of existing topsoil used for the 7 youth courses on the site
- All work is carried out in strict accordance with the agreed materials management plan, including extensive sample testing by iTurf Management prior to material installation and throughout the construction process.
- Construction of 11 natural and reinforced turf fields and a training grid for First Team goalkeepers, including primary and secondary drainage, a fully automatic irrigation system, gravel rafts, top and bottom layers of root zones, topsoil layers (reuse of existing and imported topsoil), fibre and stitch reinforced surfaces, field protection nets, curbs, grips.
- Installation of a floodlight system to the fibresand reinforced Pitch 1, to host evening training sessions and evening match day events for the academy and U23 sides.
- Installation of a 3G artificial pitch with floodlighting
- Construction of a new borehole for irrigation water supply