Work is set to get underway on a new £21m pavilion at Headingley Carnegie Cricket Ground in Leeds after Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) and Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) signed-off the scheme.

BAM Construction has been appointed to build the new 4,000sq m (43,056sq ft) facility, which has been designed by architect Will Alsop to comply with the England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) requirements for Test match venues. Plans for the new building, which will operate as a cricket pavilion during summer months and as a teaching facility at other times, include a media centre, upgraded player changing and treatment rooms and replacement spectator seating.

New hospitality suites will also be created as part of the scheme, which have been designed along with the media centre to be used as lecture theatres and teaching space outside of major cricket events. The pavilion is one of a number of ground improvements being made at Headingley Carnegie, with work already underway on the installation of new drainage and irrigation systems and the relaying of the outfield.

New permanent seating will also be added to replace the top tier of the Winter Shed Stand, which has been demolished, while a new 102sq m (1,098sq ft) scoreboard and replay screen will be installed in May. Stewart Regan, YCCC chief executive, said: "[The signing of the contracts] marks the culmination of a lot of hard work and we are incredibly grateful to Leeds Metropolitan University for its continued enthusiasm and energy, not to mention its investment, which has been vital in keeping this project on track.

"The Carnegie Pavilion is important, not only to the club and its members, but to the city of Leeds and the county of Yorkshire. When completed, it will be seen by more than 500 million TV viewers, making it the most viewed building in Yorkshire and a landmark for the region." Development agency Yorkshire Forward, Leeds City Council, HSBC and Sport England have also contributed towards the project.