Wimbledon Center Court Retractable Roof

Hightex Group

Hightex Group needed to provide a retractable roof system that could easily be deployed during rain to provide a conditioned covered environment suitable for the championships to continue with a high level of natural light. The Tenara® roof membrane system formed a part of the complete retractable roof system for the new Center Court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, England.

The project had to be designed to keep the fabric under tension at all times, required a complex geometry of moving components to deploy and adjust the stress in the membranes between the parked and deployed condition. It also employed a complex series of membrane covered "bat wings" that fold out to close the perimeter and a flexible concertina drainage system that deploys with the closing roof.

It is a hugely successful roof system that is normally parked over the north and south stands and can be deployed primarily against rain to give a conditioned playing environment. It can also be partly deployed to provide sun shading to areas of the stands!