Projects | Wimbledon No.1 Court

• Aluminium standing seam metal roofing
• Hot melt roofing system
• Façade
• Rainscreen cladding 

In order to ensure that the court was available every year for the world renowned tennis championships, it was decided that the project would be divided into three separate phases – each one with the immovable deadline of the start of the famous Grand Slam tournament.

The overall project sought to add additional space and facilities to No.1 Court, increasing overall capacity to 12,400 by adding two new tiers, alongside the installation of a bespoke roof design, allowing it to move and cover the court so play can continue regardless of weather – which required structural steel frames to support it. KSS Architects worked closely with Lindner Prater to ensure the geometric design and details could become a working reality.

Working alongside key supply chain partners such as Bailey, BEMO, Sika Sarnafil and Radmat, Lindner Prater was responsible for installing a 6500m2 BEMO aluminium standing seam metal roofing system along with an extensive waterproof hot melt package.

In addition, Lindner Prater also delivered a 3000m2 cladding package to the outer wall Kingspan façade with Bailey rainscreen cladding, soffits and bullnoses installed to both the inner and outer bowl, as per KSS Architects design. In order to overcome the varying distances between the structure and external surface, the roof was constructed using the BEMOFlex system which was created specifically for this project.

Due to the congested site and the incredibly complex design, Lindner Prater worked with BEMO to construct two offsite mock-ups prior to work starting onsite. This allowed the team to better understand the complexities of the system, its strengths and weaknesses, as well as learn the process and length of time of the installation.

Having seen the proposal in a physical form, AELTC was able to approve the product design. Working on such an iconic building, the team had to include the famous Wimbledon green within the design for site consistency, ensuring that the new roof system blended harmoniously into the existing structure.

In order to install the whole inner and outer roof package, including the inner bowl rainscreen, operatives were attached to ropes and harnesses. Once the materials were craned up to the roof level, they then had to be manually positioned, with roof slopes in excess of 45 degrees. This meant that the Lindner Prater team faced the challenge of maintaining the well-being of operatives, whilst also delivering the high-quality standards expected. All BEMO channels and sheets were individually marked for their location, for ease during installation, as each sheet was tapered to suit the differing slope lengths and pitches needed to maintain the required smooth curve of the bowl.

KSS Architects also worked with Lindner Prater to find a suitable roofing solution that would incorporate with the existing L40 slab overbuild, that would provide excellent thermal performance and waterproofing. As such, a hot melt roof package was specified and installed.

Due to the complexity of the curved bowl design and the perforations required to host lights and vents, BIM was essential to the development. Lindner Prater was able to develop 3D modelling of the project, which proved incredibly helpful across the entire supply chain, as it allowed teams to view the intended result. This also allowed us to be proactive in anticipating problems rather than waiting until they presented themselves during construction.

An additional challenge was the restricted space, which meant materials could only be delivered to site within three days of them being used. To adhere to this, Lindner Prater adopted a ‘just in time’ approach, and ensured close coordination with the client and all contractors onsite to inform them of every time materials were being delivered, moved, or used.

Now that all phases are complete, the architect’s vision has finally been realised and Wimbledon No.1 now benefits from the additional space. Most importantly, the works were completed well in time for the 2019 Championships.