Tennis Redevelopment
With the tennis season very much upon us, we have been catching up on tennis news, although, surprisingly, not who is set to win this year’s Wimbledon. With our own tennis club development well underway, our focus lies within the vast plans for development of the famous Wimbledon site. The proposed will see Wimbledon expand to almost three times its current size with crowd capacity reaching 50,000 people during the Championships. This week’s Sunday Times magazine features an interesting six-page spread on the project.
As with any large-scale development there have been mixed feelings voiced from within the community, understandably, given the sheer scale of the plans. The site currently houses a private golf club which local residents have enjoyed quiet views over for decades. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club bought the lease on the land and now propose to replace the golf course with an 8000-seater stadium and 38 new courts. This may sound daunting, however, there are many exciting changes that will, in fact, benefit the community.
The initial, and most obvious advantage is that there will be more Wimbledon seats available to residents. The current site is simply too small to keep up with demand. Centre Court, the largest of the three tennis courts on site, has a 15,000 capacity whilst the smallest can only seat 4,000. Currently, locals are often turned away. More seats mean more available tickets. This project is set to place Wimbledon very much at the forefront of Grand-slam tennis. Enabling the championship qualifying to take place on-site, rather than in neighbouring Roehampton.
Advantages are not all about seats though. The golf club was only ever accessible to private members. The development will utilise the entire 73-acre course and not just for tennis. 23-acres will be dedicated to wooded parkland, which will be open to the public all year round. The streams will be opened up and the lake desilted, with a boardwalk built to make it accessible to the public. 1500 new trees are set to be planted on site too and 10 percent biodiversity net gain is required by planning.
Seven of the new courts will be open to schools and the local community once the championships are over, enriching tennis culture and helping to train future stars. Community is also at the heart of the development the SOLID team are working on alongside building contractors Beard and The All England Tennis and Croquet Club at Raynes Park.
Raynes Park is situated just south of Wimbledon and is being developed as a community tennis centre. Phase one of the redevelopment is already in operation, with the outdoor artificial grass courts being utilised. Phase two consists of the construction of a contemporary new clubhouse and adjacent courtyard studios and formation of a new carpark. SOLID have designed the structure and infrastructure of the project.
Phase two of the development is underway and it has been fantastic visiting Raynes Park to see the project unfold. The first-floor slab reinforcement works are in progress and the courtyard building concrete slabs have been installed ready for the steel and glulam frame. We are looking forward to sharing updates with you over the coming weeks. It feels like an exciting time for British tennis and the SOLID team are keen to see advances in the sport following all the planned developments.
