Location :

Adelaide, SA

Client :

Tennis SA

Year :

2019-2020

Sector :

Acrylic | Clay Courts | Sand-Filled Turf Natural turf | Tennis

The Memorial Drive Tennis Club is the home of tennis in South Australia and has been the premier tournament venue in South Australia for more than 50 years. An upgrade was  needed to ensure that it could continue to host events such as the Davis Cup, while a roof over the main show court enabled ATP and WTA events to be hosted.

SPORTENG were engaged to undertake the detailed design and Construction Phase Consulting Services for the development of:

  • A sunken show court
  • Six (6) acrylic courts

  • Four (4) sand-filled artificial grass (SFAG) courts

  • Twelve (12) redeveloped natural turf courts

  • Centre of Excellence 5-court clay facility

In addition to the Field of Play elements, a new pavilion was included in the early stage works with a roof over the show courts delivered after the early works.

THE CHALLENGE

The site had significant constraints on all sides; Adelaide Oval to the east, practice cricket nets to the north, War Memorial Drive to the west, and an undercroft carpark to the south. Trying to fit all the courts in and ensuring compliance with ITF requirements required bespoke perimeter infrastructure design to reduce wasted space around the courts themselves.


Latent conditions during construction excavation work resulted in subgrade remediation works required in localized areas.

THE SOLUTION

SPORTENG was commissioned by Tennis SA to provide Detailed Design and Construction Phase Consulting Services to the project. Working closely with the project architects we designed bespoke perimeter court drainage and fencing solutions to reduce the width of these elements to ensure the constrained site could accommodate the ITF compliant courts.


Developing a strong working relationship with the Contractor also ensures any site issues were resolved efficiently and promptly.

THE RESULTS

The Field of Play early works package enabled the overall site to obtain funding for the covered roof for the show courts. The completed roof over the show court in advance of the 2020 international tennis season ensured the whole facility was exposed to international coverage.