Location :

Corinella, VIC

Client :

Bass Coast Shire Council

Year :

2018-2019

Sector :

Acrylic | Basketball | Futsal | Multi-use | Netball | Tennis

In late 2018, Bass Coast Shire Council had identified three (3) tennis court facilities within its municipality that required redevelopment. Hughes Reserve in Corinella was one of the sites identified and consisted of two concrete tennis courts in poor condition. In line with the Harold Hughes Reserve Masterplan, rather than redevelop the facility back to two tennis courts, Council acknowledged there was limited need for a stand-alone tennis facility, and proposed to develop a multi-use facility that was open to the public.


The newly created facility was to include one court retained for tennis, with line markings for all levels of use, and the other court be a multi-purpose zone with line markings for basketball, netball and futsal. Sports lighting was also included to extend the hours of use.

THE CHALLENGE

The site constraints dictated a lot of what could be achieved with the project. Thankfully the existing pavement dimensions were greater than required, however there was limited drainage infrastructure in the area meaning shaped swales would be required to protect the pavement and aid with drainage.


The geotechnical investigation identified poor subgrade material on the northern half of the existing courts. This is likely the result of the original cut-to-fill for the site to achieve the required subgrade shape for the courts as the site has cut embankments to the south, and fill embankments to the north.

THE SOLUTION

The reduced footprint allowed the design to include a perimeter spoon drain external to the fence line creating a seamless playing surface to the perimeter fence. A swale drain was required to the eastern side of the courts to provide protection for potential overland flow from the adjacent landscape areas.


Working closely with the project geotechnical engineer, a clay capping layer was specified for the subgrade remediation to address the areas where the exposed subgrade did not meet the performance requirements.

THE RESULTS

Moving away from a tennis only facility, which required a key to access, to an open multi-use facility means the community has greater access to this great facility. The multi-use nature of the facility allows for community use for four different sports, with the line marking accounting for tennis, basketball, netball and futsal. 


Bass Coast Shire Mayor, Cr Brett Tessari said that it is fantastic to see such incredible facilities being built, which mean so much to the communities where they are located.