Raynes Park

Located 3.5 miles from Wimbledon’s Centre Court, the 20-acre Community Sports Ground currently provides six grass courts and six acrylic hard courts - three of which are covered by an inflatable pressurised dome which is inflated all year round. Our scope of works on the 66 week project is to redevelop the current grassland area to deliver 16 new grass courts, three acrylic courts, a maintenance building, associated S278 works, drainage and landscaping.

Our works included significant liaison with Thames Water as were responsible for upgrading their existing potable and irrigation water system whilst maintaining water throughout. We also designed and built the new gas pipeline, and we engineered both upgrades to reduce the cost to the client by £110K in what was a challenging project which had to remain open to their private members. This value engineering solution not only reduced costs but also de-risked the programme by streamlining delivery and minimising the potential for delays, ensuring greater certainty in both time and budget—whilst crucially maintaining a live venue for the client, with no closures to the existing tennis facilities required throughout the entire build.

As the site has a history of seasonal flooding, sustainable drainage systems are a vital part of our landscaping and drainage strategy. We are installing a variety of features to ensure that the site drainage is improved, including a harvesting tank, swales and a landscaped detention basin, designed to improve the amenity and ecological value of the site. The sitewide SuDS scheme will also be facilitated by porous tarmac footpaths and permeable paving.

Strict specifications for the courts to meet Wimbledon Championship standards have been set by AELTC. To ensure these are met we are working with the AELTC head groundsman to implement specific measures that include identifying potential cross-contaminants during seeding of the courts. We are also using mitigation methods such as dust netting, controlled cutting stations, and assessment of wind direction to ensure no potential contamination from air borne construction dust.