The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) required a solution to avoid rain stopping play at its prestigious world-class tennis tournament, The Championships at Wimbledon.
Suspended play is frustrating for many reasons: the players and crowd are forced to wait and hope for play to resume; sponsors and television viewers lose the impact of a flowing game; and the tournament schedule can be affected.
In 2006, a significant redevelopment of Centre Court presented the opportunity to tackle the ‘rain stops play’ problem. Then, 10 years on, the opportunity repeated itself with 2016’s redevelopment of the No.1 Court complex.
ARX engineered, built, tested and installed the retractable concertina roofs over both stadiums. The roofs provide rain cover when needed, whilst retaining the traditional open-air feel of Wimbledon’s grass court matches.
The design involved ten 100-tonne trusses which would span the 77m width of the court, supporting approximately 5200 m2 of roofing membrane, lighting and ventilation equipment.
We are delighted that the No.1 Court roof has been successfully used on several occasions, which has enabled us to complete matches that otherwise may have been suspended.
Richard Lewis
Chief Executive
AELTC
