Ipswich Town Football Club has applied for permission to build a new workshop at its Portman Road stadium as the club prepares for its return to the EFL Championship.
Fresh plans lodged to Ipswich Borough Council in May show the club looks to build the new workshop, storage and changing spaces in the stadium’s south-west corner – alongside works to repurpose its existing warehouse into offices.
If successful, it would see a new 280m² ground floor extension built adjacent to the photographers’ room to house the new workshop and storage rooms, as well as a new office and main space for stewards to pick up their equipment and uniform on matchdays.
The existing first-floor warehouse space – used as the TownTV filming facility – would be adapted into a two-storey office space with a new mezzanine built to connect it with the second floor press and media facilities.
The offices would be used by the club’s media, marketing, ticket office and commercial teams, with the mezzanine level dedicated to its operations, safety, data and finance staff.
The plan’s design and access statement, prepared by Hoopers Architects, reads: “The above improvements will all offer a large amount of currently massively underutilised floor space within the stadium and help rationalise and collect the club’s staff.
“The proposals submitted represent ITFC’s continued commitment to bring the stadium and its facilities in line with the requirements of a Premier League team and their vision to utilise the stadium grounds to its fullest.
“The proposal has been designed in context with the existing stadium and has been considered alongside the recent improvements made across the stadium site to make a cohesive design that feels part of the growing south-west corner.”
The plans come following a busy close-season at Portman Road last year, with the club having applied for retrospective planning permission in March for the extensive works delivered across the stadium.
A target date for the council’s decision on the latest plans has been set for July 16.