Raynes Park
Careys were appointed principal contractor by AELTC, which runs the famed Wimbledon tennis championships, to deliver 16 new Championship-standard grass courts at their Community Sports Ground in Raynes Park, southwest London in what is a substantial groundworks, utilities, infrastructure and landscaping package of works.
Client
All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC)Location
Wimbledon, LondonPrincipal Contractor
CareysCareys was appointed to deliver extensive works at AELTC’s Raynes Park, its 20-acre community sports ground, located 3.5 miles from Wimbledon’s main courts. This included redeveloping the grassland area to extend this community and player practice facility to construct 16 new grass courts to Championship standards, as well as three acrylic courts, a new air dome and associated enclosures, winter sports pitches and a steel-framed maintenance building plus service yard.
Associated excavation, S278 highway works, drainage and utility works and landscaping were involved. We had to carefully control the seeding of the grass courts to achieve the required quality in time for the Championship.
Careys was appointed to deliver extensive works at AELTC’s Raynes Park, its 20-acre community sports ground, located 3.5 miles from Wimbledon’s main courts. This included redeveloping the grassland area to extend this community and player practice facility to construct 16 new grass courts to Championship standards, as well as three acrylic courts, a new air dome and associated enclosures, winter sports pitches and a steel-framed maintenance building plus service yard.
Associated excavation, S278 highway works, drainage and utility works and landscaping were involved. We had to carefully control the seeding of the grass courts to achieve the required quality in time for the Championship.
Utilities
These works included: the diversion of the existing storm and foul Thames Water sewers; upgrading the potable works; installing sitewide SuDS; and designing and installing a gas main, all whilst maintaining water/gas supplies throughout. At all stages, we had to protect the trees within the site boundary. Significant liaison with Thames Water was involved.
There was extensive water on site, which has a history of seasonal flooding. Its effects were mitigated by the SuDS scheme, which informed the landscaping and drainage strategies. Features included a 120,000 litre
harvesting tank, porous tarmac footpaths, permeable paving, haha perimeters, swales and a lined detention basin, all designed to improve not only the functionality and sustainability but also the aesthetics of the site.
Gas infrastucture
Careys’ Utilities Manager was responsible for the upgraded design and build of the gas pipeline, which then had to remain in commission throughout the works to supply the onsite facilities. Careys also upgraded the non-contestable pipework within the highway that supplied the new pipeline, ensuring this met with current legislation and Thames Water regulations. With our utilities design expertise, we were able to significantly reduce the client’s original target cost for the upgrade.
Hard landscaping and associated infrastructure
In addition to the SuDS-related features, we installed paving, edgings and tarmac to future-proof areas heavily used by the public around the perimeters of the newly constructed grass tennis courts. We constructed a new maintenance building, together with a new service yard, tarmac access road and car park. This involved the installation of underground tanks for diesel and Waste2Water washout.
New outdoor tennis courts
AELTC set strict specifications for the courts to meet Wimbledon Championship standards. To ensure these were met, Careys worked closely with the AELTC head groundsman to understand and implement the highly specific measures required to ensure the quality and timely delivery of the grass courts. These included identifying potential cross-contaminants during seeding, using mitigation methods such as dust netting, careful control of all cutting stations, and assessment of the wind direction to avoid airborne construction dust.
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