THE LONG TERM PLAN
Background
The All England Club's Long Term Plan, unveiled in 1993, set out to enhance Wimbledon's widely acknowledged reputation as the world premier tennis event by substantially improving the whole quality of the Wimbledon experience for all the main audiences – players, spectators, media, officials, members and Championships' staff.
Guided by a blend of tradition with innovation, the Club's Grounds and facilities have been steadily transformed, including:
- 1997 - New No.1 Court, permanent Broadcast Centre, tunnel linking Church Road with Somerset Road and new courts 18 and 19, the popular Aorangi Terrace and large screen TV.
- 2000 - Millennium Building (new facilities for players, press and photographers, officials, ballboys/girls, Club members and LTA councillors).
- 2001 - Important repairs and improvements to the front of the Centre Court.
- 2002 - Major refurbishment of Clubhouse and Royal Box area.
- 2005 - New boundary wall and hard courts at Southern Apex; resurfacing of Car Parks 2 and 3.
- 2006 - Redevelopment of the turnstile area, together with a new museum (open April 2006), Wimbledon Shop, ticket office and the Club's new offices.
- 2009 - Centre Court: Retractable roof, installation of new, wider, padded and more comfortable seating for all spectators. New 4000 seat Court 2.
- 2011 - New 2000 seat Court 3
Centre Court
Retractable Roof on Centre Court
- In 2009, Centre Court gained a new, modern retractable roof enabling all weather play and complementing the original 1920’s stadium.
- The roof will be closed primarily to protect play from inclement (and, if necessary, extremely hot) weather, allowing fewer interruptions to Centre Court play and completion of the main Championships events on time.
- The roof provides a first-class, consistent and safe (non-slippery) playing environment in both open and closed positions.
- Of translucent construction to allow natural light to reach the grass, the roof offers protection to the grass under all adverse weather conditions and, when open, improves growing conditions throughout the year, particularly at the southern end where the benefit of extra light is achieved.
Facts
- The moving roof weighs 1,000 tonnes, covers 5,200sqm and is 16m in height from the ground.
- It has been constructed in two sections and is of a folding fabric, concertina design. Fabric is strong, flexible and translucent to provide a light and airy feel.
- The roof has been designed to maintain pre-existing levels of light and air to the court when the roof is open, and when closed, an air flow system removes condensation from within the bowl to provide good court surface conditions for the playing of tennis.
- Closing: The roof will take between 8-10 minutes to close and because of the time taken to close the roof, the existing Centre Court covers will initially be deployed should rain start to fall. Another 20-30 minutes are needed for the air management system to create the correct conditions, so in total it will be 30-40 minutes between starting the cover process and the court being available for play. Planning constraints require play to finish no later than 11.00pm.
- Opening: Although the roof is translucent, lighting is installed within the roof and this will come on automatically when it is closed. These lights require approximately 10 minutes to cool down prior to start the opening operation. It will then take the 8-10 minutes for the roof to open and a total up to 20 minutes until the court is ready for play. The lighting in the roof is designed to high definition television standards.
- The roof can safely be deployed in wind conditions of up to 43 mph (69 kph).
Protocol for use of Roof
These basic principles will govern the use of the roof:
- The Championships is an outdoor daytime event.
- Ultimate control of the use of the roof rests with the Referee and his decisions will be final.
- Timings of scheduled play on the Centre Court in 2010 are intended to be on the same basis as 2009. This includes the number of matches and the likely timing of those matches to be put on the court.
Many different circumstances will govern the opening and the closing of the roof, hence the ultimate control of the Referee. That said, the following may be useful guidelines:
- Best efforts will be made to start play each day with the roof open. However, 45 minutes before the start of each day’s play a decision will be taken whether the first match will start with the roof open or closed.
- If a match is suspended due to rain or bad light, the normal covers will first be deployed, the roof closed and the match will then complete under the roof. Due to the change in playing conditions, players will get a 5 minute warm-up on returning to court. If the projected interruption is brief, as determined by the Referee, only the covers will be used and play then continued with the roof open.
- A decision to open/close the roof will be taken prior to the start of each subsequent match.
- Any match started will normally be completed. If necessary, the roof closed for reasons of light as well as rain. Any additional matches may be stopped at the discretion of the Referee.
- Changes to the order of play, including the completion of an unfinished match on a different court to the one on which it started, may be authorised in exceptional circumstances in the best interests of completing The Championships on schedule.
Centre Court by numbers
8 Litres per second of fresh air per person pumped into the bowl to manage the environment
9 Chiller units required to cool the air
10 Minutes (maximum) that the roof takes to close
10 Trusses holding up the roof
16 Metres - height of the roof above the court surface
30 Minutes - maximum time expected before play can start/continue after the roof is closed and the internal environment is controlled and stabilised
77 Metres, the span of the moving roof trusses (width of football pitch = 68m)
70 Tonnes - weight of each of the 10 trusses without extra parts
100 Tonnes - weight of each of the 10 trusses with all extras - eg. montors, locking arms
100 Per cent of the roof's fabric which is recyclable
214 MM per second - maximum speed of truss deployment
1,200 Extra seats installed in 2008
3,000 Tonnes, combined weight (both fixed and moving) of the roof
5,200 Square metres, area of retractable roof when fully deployed
7,500 Wimbledon umbrellas, needed to cover the same area as the retractable roof
15,000 Maximum spectator capacity
143,000 Litres per second - total amount of conditioned air that the air-management system supplies to the bowl.
290m Tennis balls - number of tennis balls you could fit in the centre Court with the roof closed
Year Activity
- 2002 Centre Court terracing rows A-H replaced
- 2003 Gate 3: Demolition of old Wimbledon Museum Shop, Barclays Bank and turnstiles to make way for new Museum Building including Club offices
- 2004 Announcement of new Centre Court retractable roof, increase in capacity to 15,000, new wider padded seats (470mm seat spacing) and new restaurants/bars for public and debenture holders
Gate 3: Museum, Turnstile and Club Offices building concrete structure complete to ground floor level
New ticket booths operational from Church Road
- 2005 Gate 3: Museum, Turnstile and Museum Building (Club Offices) concrete structure continues
Diversion of essential services under and around Centre Court
Centre Court terracing (rows J-T) replaced
Design work on the new roof, North and East Stands well advanced
- 2006 Enabling and infrastructure works start to strengthen the court foundations and prepare for air-management system
AELTC staff relocate to Gate 3 Museum Building (December 2005)
New Museum opens (April 2006)
- 2007 Demolition of East Stand and old Club offices
Removal of existing roof
Piling and construction of new East Stand frame and floors
East Stand rebuilt and terraces operational
No roof on Centre Court
Extra six rows of terracing completed
Centre Court restaurants/bars in situ but not open – used as rain shelters
- 2008 Installation of new fixed roof
East Stand building finished and fully operational
Refurbished North Stand including Centre Court Debenture Rooms operational
Completion of new public and debenture facilities within East and North
Stands, including enhanced and extended dining/lounge areas for Centre Court
Debenture Holders and 400-seat Wingfield Restaurant for public, 10 new hospitality suites
- 2009 Capacity rises to 15,000 with addition of 1200 new seats
Installation of the first two moving
Completion of moving roof trusses
Erection and completion of moving roof
Fit fabric covering to sliding roof
Commissioning and testing of roof and environment of Centre Court.
Construction of new permanent Gatehouses at Gates 4 and 5
Retractable roof and air-management system operational.
All new wider, padded and more comfortable seats installed on Centre Court
No.2 Court complete and operational
- 2010-2011 No.3 Court re-built and operational for 2011 Championships.
Additional Information
The new Centre Court roof comprises two distinct roof forms: the main fixed roof to the perimeter of the Court which is surmounted by a translucent retractable steel and fabric "concertina like" structure.
The design for the fixed perimeter is modelled on the 1922 dodecahedron form which provides the distinct intimate Centre Court atmosphere with a droop down leading edge to focus spectators' eyes to the action on the grass court. The use of the translucent fabric for the retractable element affords natural light into the arena and in part retains the open-to-air quality of the 1920's stadium.
The relatively lightweight steel truss and fabric retractable roof is set above the fixed perimeter roof so as not to impinge on the spectators' view and perception of the grass court in either the open or closed mode. It also retains the 1922 dodecahedron roof form when viewed from the terraces below.
The roof is designed to provide appropriate playing conditions when the roof is deployed in adverse summer weather conditions; specifically:-
- Light – the translucent Tenara fabric will permit adequate levels of light for play in most daylight conditions; where natural light fails to meet the levels required, it is supplemented by a bespoke design sports lighting system (permanently installed on the trusses), which has been designed to provide compliant light conditions both for play and for media coverage. There are 72 indirect, truss mounted sports luminaires and 48 direct truss mounted sports luminaires. On the turf, horizontal lighting level is 3,200 lux and on the vertical (for service and shots in the air) is 1,900 lux.
- Wind – the roof can be safely deployed in wind conditions of up to 43 mph (69 kph).
- Rainfall – the roof is designed to be weathertight. Rainfall on the fabric roof is rapidly dispersed to the two sides as the top profile of the roof is a curve; at the sides the water falls into gutters and then into the main surface water drainage system.
- Internal environment – the air systems are designed to firstly control and then stabilise the internal bowl environment at the specified levels (24 degrees C +/- 2 degrees C, with 50% +/- 10% relative humidity based on ambient conditions of 27 degrees C with 72% RH; if ambient temperatures rise, the bowl temperature will be maintained provided ambient RH levels fall), to prevent condensation on the inside of the roof or sweating of the grass, and to provide a fresh air allowance into bowl of eight litres/second/person.
- Seats – the new seats are padded and more comfortable. The seats are wider and the spacing between them (centre to centre) has also been increased.
New No.2 Court
- 4,000 seat show court on the site of current Court 13 ready for The Championships, 2009.
- In order not to intrude on neighbours' views, the single storey structure will be about 3.5m above ground level, with the playing surface around 3.5m below ground level.
- Upgraded facilities for the players and spectators, including retail and catering.
- Public lavatories also for use by the overnight queue.
- Improved media facilities.
New No.3 Court
- Construction of a new 2,000-seat court on the site of existing No.2 Court ready for 2011.
Centre Court Hospitality and Dining for Public and Debenture Holders
Offering the finest standard of food, hospitality and customer service and set amidst a stylish and contemporary environment, the new facilities draw upon Championships' history for their inspiration.
Ground floor (Level 1 - public)
- The Tea Lawn: Re-lit and re-modelled and has nearly 50% more counter capacity with 11 catering counters instead of the original seven.
- The Long Bar: Has an improved pouring system to increase service speed and features a fascinating image wall depicting 'Behind the Scenes at Wimbledon' – pictures of all those apart from the players who make The Championships happen.
- Wimbledon Shop: Improved retail and shopping facilities with a 4000 sq ft Wimbledon Shop on the South East corner of the new building, containing a Polo Ralph Lauren shop-in-shop, and a selection of Wimbledon Collection best sellers.
Level 2 (public)
- The Wingfield Restaurant: seating 450 guests and for the first time the Wingfield is within the Centre Court. 25% larger than the old version, the restaurant has 40% dining alfresco, with screens and covers for weather protection.
- Decorated in the style of an English Summer Garden Party with graphics, colours, and images of English garden parties through the years up to today.
- Features a scrolling projected Honours Board showing all the Men’s and Ladies’ Singles Champions.
Level 3 (debentures)
Debenture Holders Entrance: Impressive space featuring a stunning wire mesh sculpture (David Begbie) of four 4 x 3m player figures suspended in the space.
- The Terrace: self-service restaurant with 50% dining alfresco and suitable weather protection offering wonderful views from the balcony out over the Tea Lawn and Golf Course. Seats 350 guests. Themed to reflect the changing face of tennis fashion at Wimbledon with images of crowds and players alike spanning almost 100 years.
- Themed to reflect the changing face of tennis fashion at Wimbledon with images of crowds and players alike spanning almost 100 years.
- The Courtside Restaurant: Fully air-conditioned (400 guests) premier fine-dining table-served restaurant. Features a display which encapsulates the history of The Championships as portrayed through four fascinating showcases of Wimbledon history - Dining at Wimbledon, 20's/30's era, Equipment and the Modern Era.
- Champagne Bar: Beyond and adjacent to the Courtside Restaurant. Beautifully refurbished using large scale glass panels to give it a light and airy feel. Set amidst images, statistics, facts, figures about the original Stanley Peach 1922 Centre Court building and the new Centre Court.
Level 4 (debentures)
- The Gallery Lounge and Bar: For exclusive use by debenture holders, enjoying wonderful views over courts 14-17 and No.1 Court stadium. 200 guests.
- The Skyview Suites (8 Private Dining Suites comprising 5 suites of 20 and 3 suites of 10 guests) offer unrivalled refinement, luxury and service.
- Fully air-conditioned with dedicated butler, experienced waiting and hostess staff and personal usher service to reserved Centre Court seats, all the suites have balconies with panoramic views of either the golf course or the southern courts.
- Each suite is named after one of the greatest players to grace the Wimbledon grass courts – Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Rod Laver, Roger Federer, Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King.
Level 5 (public and debentures)
- The Roof Top Bar: Open terrace bar exclusive to debenture holders situated on top of the Centre Court stadium with spectacular views towards London. Seats around 70 guests.
- Public catering facility: Situated off the corridor behind the commentary boxes.
