Temporary Venue for Tennis Events

Tennis is a volatile sport that involves a lot of traveling. Most players spend at least 10 months away from their homes. The events themselves often only last 1-2 weeks before moving on to the next location. For sports like tennis, temporary structures are vital. They are cost-effective, adaptable, and easy to use.

For this project, I want to design a structure that is temporary, but still reusable. It will be able to move with the tennis tournament, being taken down and put up as necessary. To ensure the venue will be as efficient as possible, I will focus on using lightweight and sustainable materials. The venues will have features that allow it to combine with others to adapt to the size of the event.

Most of all, I want this venue to be environmentally conscious. Many temporary structures are built to minimize waste and prevent site disturbances. Rather than building a court in every city for these events, this venue is able to follow its players.

Software Used:

1. Autodesk Revit
2. Enscape

Materials (for Venue):

1. Tarp
2. Aluminum
3. Plexiglass
4. Sandbags
5. Concrete/Asphalt

I began my brainstorming process by researching all types of temporary venues, especially ones specifically for sporting events. I learned that they are often secured using ground stakes and sandbags, so I opted for those. I also looked for the most cost-effective, lightweight, but functional materials.

I decided to go with plexiglass for the walls, as it is weather-resistant, durable, and easy to move. In order to withstand the heat, the sheets will need to be thicker. I also chose to add tarp coverings on the outer walls to help with heat reduction and minimize distraction while games are in session. Lastly, I chose aluminum over steel for the structural beams as they are much lighter, but retain the same durable properties.

Finally, I researched the important features of tennis courts. A standard tennis court is around 78 feet long and 36 feet wide. This is an extremely important element to make sure is kept accurate in my final project, otherwise, it will not be able to hold official events. There are 4 types of tennis courts: grass, clay, hard, and carpet. For my venue, I went with a hard court as it is common for practice and used by the US Open. However, this could be changed out to a clay or grass court depending on location.

https://www.olympics.com/en/news/tennis-court-markings-dimensions-size-types-variety-surface-hard-grass-clay

As stated in the previous step, the main anchoring function for the venue will lie in ground stakes connected to the structural aluminum beams. The sandbags are not necessary, but could be utilized if harsh winds are common in the area. The outer tarps can be left open or closed, but should be closed on days of extreme heat for the protection and safety of the attendees.

When the event is over and the venue is ready to be assembled in the next location, deconstruction is easy. The ground stakes can be pulled up, and the plexiglass walls can be detached from the aluminum beams by unscrewing at their connected spots. Then, all materials can be packed up onto/into a truck and sent off to the next location. Thanks to the lightweight plexiglass and aluminum, the venue can be completely dismantled in a short amount of time.

As for other features of the venue, multiple can be connected by attaching hallways to either of the entryways on each side of the building. This makes it so that multiple games can occur at the same time, while maintaining easy access for attendees, coaches, press, etc. The venue itself is very adaptable and can be easily suited to the needs of a specific tournament or location.

I created my venue using Autodesk Revit, and used RevitCity and Enscape to find the perfect assets for my project. I was able to find a great set of bleachers and a hard tennis court from RevitCity's download library.

Before I began designing, though, I first had to decide on dimensions. Using the average size of a tennis court as mentioned previously, I about doubled the measurements, wanting to accommodate for the bleachers and overall comfort. The venue is meant to be compact, but I still didn't want it to feel cramped. Thus, the venue is 145 feet wide and 80 feet long. It is also roughly 40 feet tall from the highest point.

After deciding on the measurements of the venue, I built the basic structure using Revit's beam system. I then added the bleachers I downloaded from RevitCity. Each of the bleachers is about 25' x 5' x 6' (l x w x h), and there are 14 sets of bleachers in the venue. An individual bleacher of this size can sit somewhere between 50-60 people. This means the venue can accommodate around 700-840 people comfortably.

After finishing my project in Revit, I used their built-in Enscape software to render it. I am pretty happy with how it came out, and think it looks best at sunset. I added some people into my final rendering to help it feel more realistic/show what it would look like in use.

Overall, I really enjoyed working on this project, I think it helped me to expand my Revit skillset and showed me that I can create more than just buildings using the software. Enscape is also a fantastic program that helps my projects look super realistic, and I am always excited to see it when I finish a project.

I hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading <3 🎾