Winner of a RIBA National Award 2008
RIBA Awards
The Lawn Tennis Association’s National Tennis Centre
Roehampton, London
Anthony Weller
The National Tennis centre provides a world-class facility for young players
and coaches and the administrative headquarters for the Lawn Tennis Association.
Situated on metropolitan open land, the design responds sensitively to
its setting, preserving woodland and selecting forms and materials to
complement the surroundings.
Paul Tyagi
The centre comprises indoor and outdoor tennis courts, with grass, clay
and acrylic surfaces, training facilities include a gymnasia, hydrotherapy
pool, sports medicine and science facilities, player and coach accommodation,
a caf», teaching spaces and offices.
Anthony Weller
The elements come together in a way which gives the sport an appropriate
image in an environmentally friendly, robust and durable facility.
Paul Tyagi
Description of the Project setting out client’s brief, planning constraints,
materials & method of construction, summary of timetable, programme
and budget constraints:
The National Tennis Centre was embarked upon by the Lawn Tennis Association
(LTA) as a way to raise the standard of British tennis by providing, in
one state-of-the-art facility:
• top-class indoor and outdoor training courts with grass, clay and
acrylic surfaces
• associated treatment and gym facilities
• accommodation to enable promising young players to benefit from
intensive residential coaching programmes, and
• an enjoyable consolidated working environment for all LTA staff
The built forms comprise three main volumes which are set out around an
open landscaped courtyard, the focus of which is a 250 year old london
plane tree. The buildings are approached from the landscaped car park
which is integrated into the existing woodland. The buildings comprise
the indoor tennis centre and the administrative offices for the lta and
between these, a fabric covered entrance pavilion mediates between the
architecture, programs and scales of the two flanking buildings.
Anthony Weller
The LTA’s express intention was that, on entering the facility, Britain’s
top players of the future would become completely immersed in a culture
of striving for tennis excellence. The 6 heated indoor courts are visible
from the visitor’s point of arrival at the reception link, and glazing
maintains the visual connection to the courts from the treatment and gym
facilities strung along one side of them. It’s all about the tennis.
Anthony Weller
The Centre would be more than a building. Multiple tennis courts add up
to an extensive landscape, interior and exterior, and a site was required
that satisfied the conflicting requirements of sufficient plan area for
over 20 tennis courts with proximity to a major international air terminal,
and proximity to central London (the LTA was based at the Queens Club,
so most staff were resident within easy reach of west London). In 2002
the LTA struck a deal with the Bank of England to take half of its Sports
Ground in Roehampton. The Sports Ground was situated on Metropolitan Open
Land, which meant that the new facility would need to be very sensitively
integrated into the landscape in order to satisfy Planning requirements.
This has been achieved by arranging the 20 outdoor courts as a series
of terraces that fit the contours of the site, and by minimising the overall
building height by half-sinking the building into the falling landscape
so as to present only a single storey to the east whilst achieving the
required heights for indoor tennis courts within. The curve of the zinc
roof follows the locus of the LTA regulation lob-ball inside, and consequently
presents a ground-hugging profile in the landscape. Oiled cedar-framed
glazed facades and a fairfaced concrete structure complete the building’s
external palette, all selected for their robust material integrity and
satisfying the LTA’s demands that they continue to look good as the
Centre continues to function as the top tennis training facility in the
country.
Anthony Weller
The constructional logic of the building is that the insitu concrete frame,
with circular columns and flat slabs, is topped with a propped arched
steel roof structure that spans 40m across the courts and incorporates
raised rooflight strips that give the long-span beams added structural
depth and mark the intervals between the courts. The side thrust from
these very shallow arches is borne by substantial insitu concrete shear
walls that enclose the circulation cores and rest areas. The intervals
of the flanking accommodation therefore reflect the widths of the courts.
The roof decking between the arches was originally conceived as a series
of prefabricated timber box beams, spanning almost 15m, but was changed
during the second stage tender period to a secondary steel structure with
timber soffit panels in order to reduce cost. This was the only notable
change to the project between Scheme Design and occupation.
After the site purchase in 2002 the project was progressed to Planning
consent in spring 2004, immediately after which design progressed through
a 2-stage Design-and-Build tender during summer 2004 to a start on site
for the external courts in autumn 2004. The building was completed and
occupied in early 2007, on time and on budget. The quality that has been
realised in this project through a Design-and-Build procurement route
is a credit to the Contractor and his design team and demonstrates what
can be achieved by getting a good Contractor on board at the right time.
Anthony Weller
Sustainability
Energy: The NTC energy strategy acts to minimise demand from ventilation,
heating and lighting systems, thus reducing carbon emissions whilst maintaining
the highest quality environment for all the building’s users.
Solar shading: Cooling load during the summer is minimised using an effective
shading strategy, which balances optimum daylighting with the need to
control solar gain. A generous first floor balcony provides shading to
the player accommodation, with timber louvers shading the upper level
of office accommodation. These reduce solar heat gain, and thus cooling
demand.
Lighting: Rooflights provide background lighting in the tennis courts,
with illumination for training session being provided by a bespoke system
from zumtobel, which allows control of individual fittings. The system
was designed by arup lighting and lightform. External light fittings are
energy-efficient led units, linked to a central timing system. A manual
override in the reception area provides auxiliary control for safety and
security purposes. Abundant natural light is available in the offices
via perimeter windows and the atrium rooflights. Additional lighting is
provided by compact fluorescent lamps, with the orientation of fittings
designed to maximise efficiency.
Ventilation: The main tennis court is naturally ventilated, using a stack
effect system. This ensures player comfort, whilst minimising energy demand.
Mixed mode ventilation is used in the offices. The majority of cooling
is provided by displacement air system, routed into the office space through
a raised floor plenum. Exhausted air passes through a thermal wheel, recovering
heat to incoming fresh air. In addition, windows in the office are manually
openable, which allows increased natural ventilation and provides occupants
with more control over their environment. The need for supplementary cooling
is restricted to a small number of high-use areas. Temperature modulation
in the administrative and residential blocks is enhanced by the extensive
use of exposed concrete as thermal mass.
Heating: Underfloor heating is used in the main tennis courts with the
ntc being the largest building of its kind in the uk to use this system.
As well as providing exceptional player comfort, underfloor heating provides
an additional benefit in that it avoids the need for intrusive hot air
blowers suspended from the court ceiling. Very compact plans with high
levels of thermal insulation minimise the heating demand of the buildings.
Water: Large underground tanks are used for the temporary storage of storm
water, which can then be released at a controlled rate into beverly brook,
which runs through the site. This attenuation reduces local flood risk
and disturbance to wildlife. The cells are located below the outside training
courts.
Materials: Zinc is used for the roof, which can be readily reused or recycled.
With an embodied energy of 50mj/kg, it has around a quarter of the energy
intensity of alternatives such as copper or lead. Extensive use of timber
is made within the building, with doors, balconies and louvers constructed
from FSC certified western red cedar. The external courts are located
on series of terraced levels. Arup’s geotechnical engineers completed
extensive studies on the construction sequence and layout of these levels
in order to minimise the total movement of soil, reducing overall transport
energy. As the lower parts of the site form a flood plain for beverly
brook, the new layout was designed to replicate the original flood storage
capacity, maintaining flood protection for downstream areas.
Flexibility: The capacity to accommodate alternative layouts was considered
essential, avoiding the need for wasteful interior refits in the future.
Ventilation ducting, and power/data cables, are routed under the raised
floor system in the office accommodation to create a robust and adaptable
building.
Biodiversity and site planning: The site’s rich assortment of wildlife
had to be considered throughout, and steps taken to ensure that the impact
of the new tennis centre was mitigated. For example, the layout of the
car park was designed to minimise disturbance to the local badger population,
and the construction sequence planned to avoid disruption during their
breeding season. The court and office buildings have been designed around
a large 250-year old london plane tree, which was protected during construction
and now provides a central focus for the courtyard. The site is designated
as metropolitan open land, which imposed strict planning conditions. The
overall height of the main court is kept as low as possible, whilst still
providing the required height for tennis matches, and the building envelope
has been shaped so that the building blends into the site. A slender arched
roof was used to conform to these criteria, with a span of 32m and a structural
depth of 600mm.
Anthony Weller
Inclusive design
The aim of the National Tennis Centre is to provide a single site of national
focus for tennis in Great Britain and present players, including international
wheelchair tennis players who will use this as their training centre,
the very best opportunity to realise their potential by offering world
class facilities suitable for use by all.
The centre consists of 16 outdoor courts, 6 indoor courts, a fully equipped
gymnasium and exercise facilities, sports science, physiotherapy and rehabilitation
areas, a medical centre, temporary residential accommodation for players
and administration office facilities for the Lawn Tennis Association.
Although there are significant changes in level across the site great
care has been taken is setting out all the external works and approaches
to the building to minimize as much as possible any potential barriers
or obstructions.
In order to accommodate the changes in level the external courts are arranged
over a series of terraces and they are linked together by a linear ramp
system (with a maximum gradient of 1 in 20) that runs through the middle
and provides access to all the courts.
Five accessible parking spaces are provided directly opposite the main
entrance to the building with two additional accessible parking spaces
being provided at the southern end of the car park for the use of those
visiting the medical centre. Together these comprise 9% of the total parking
provision of 76 spaces.
Internally the accommodation is arranged over two floors. The lift that
links these together is generous in size (internal dimensions 1600mm by
2100mm) in order to accommodate a tennis player in a normal wheelchair
pushing his sports wheelchair in front of him. Internal corridors and
circulation spaces are also generous in size in order to provide suitable
space for manoeuvring.
Accessible WC’s are provided throughout the building (9 in total
excluding those in the residential accommodation) and in the changing
areas there are three individual accessible changing and shower rooms.
In the residential accommodation there are four single occupancy accessible
bedrooms each with its own accessible en-suite shower room. This equates
to 1 accessible bedroom to every 4 standard bedrooms.
Lawn Tennis Association National Tennis Centre Images/ text from Hopkins
Architects 090708
Hopkins
Architects
Key consultants:
Project Manager & Main Contractor: ISG Interior Exterior
Structural Engineer: Arup
Quantity Surveyor: Gardiner & Theobald
Services Engineer: Arup
Landscape Architect: Broadway Malyan
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National Tennis Centre London
Architecture - page : adrian welch / isabelle lomholt