LEISURE & HOSPITALITY FACILITIES
world, with temporary structures used in Brazil, at the Confederations Cup ahead of Rio 2016; at Wentworth, for the BMW PGA Championship; and 7,500 seats are set to be added to Durham’s CCC’s ground for the fourth Investec Ashes Test.
The legacy of the seating has also seen the same seats set up at the Olympics used by those cheering Murray on to victory. Arena Group utilised the same grandstand substructure for Wimbledon, installing 3,500 temporary seats across ten courts, including 1,000 clearview™ seats on Court 12.
While both Wimbledon and Queen’s share their similarities as projects, Arena’s involvement at the latter is far more extensive. In comparison to the All England Club, which hosts Wimbledon, the Lawn Tennis Association requires Arena to completely transform The Queen’s Club from standard courts into a complete stadium complex.
Sales and Marketing Director, Dave Withey, commented: “The projects are very different. At Queen’s Club, we basically go into a tennis club in West London that is just tennis courts. There’s a clubhouse and general facilities but it’s not a stadium. So we have to build a temporary venue from scratch; seating, corporate hospitality, double-deck tentage – everything
www.tomorrowsfm.com
that’s required for the tournament. The configuration and the way it works in such as tight space is challenging but we’ve worked with the organisers over the last three decades to make it into the premier pre-Wimbledon grass court championship.
“At Wimbledon, we’re putting in everything from changing rooms for the ballboys through to tiered seating on the outside courts.”
As well as working around television crews and sponsorship deals, this year’s tournament saw Arena supply 8,800 spectator seats, 12,500m2 of temporary structures, over 100 tonnes of substructure scaffolding and all hospitality furniture, cutlery and crockery across the entire venue – not bad for a contract that started out as just over 500 seats in the 1970s.
According to Dave, Wimbledon is somewhat different: “The All England Club are constantly upgrading facilities at Wimbledon on a permanent basis and, alongside that, the temporary facilities going into it change year on year. At Wimbledon, we’re putting in
everything from changing rooms for the ballboys through to high-end corporate hospitality facilities and tiered seating on the outside courts.”
The Olympic seating specified at both championships is testament to the three-year design process. Clearview™ is based on a multi-rake system that allows for eight different rises with the same equipment. This feature becomes particularly useful when you consider that different sports required different sightlines; for example, a snooker match requires a much steeper bank than a tennis match to provied the right ‘C value’ (international measurement for sightlines). This was one of the factors that prompted its use at the Olympic gymnastics as the restrictive ceiling height at the ExCeL meant that a tier was required before a much steeper rake.
With Wimbledon’s constant development, it’s of no surprise that Arena have already been involved in planning for Wimbledon 2014 for the last six months. Let’s hope that those enjoying the facilities provided by Arena are watching another British success.
www.arenagroup.com
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