Steel roof taking shape over Wimbledon No. 1 Court

Steel trusses are currently being installed as part of the work to install a retractable roof over Wimbledon’s No.1 Court.

Similar in design to the structure that has been installed over Centre Court, the new roof will allow uninterrupted play irrespective of the weather on Wimbledon’s second largest court.

The retractable roof is based on a concertina design with two main sections that meet in the middle. It will be made of transparent Gore Tenara (a type of Gore-Tex fabric), which is stretched between steel trusses.

Covering an area of about 5,500m², the new roof will be able to be deployed or retracted in around eight minutes.

There are 11 steel trusses in total, each spanning 75m across the top of the court, and each having an overall height of 6.5m.

Ten of the trusses are identical prismatic sections, but one, the most southerly, is rectangular in shape and slightly heavier at 65t instead of 60t.

Allowing the roof to move, the ends of each truss are supported on a wheeled bogie that moves along rails that are fixed to the new superstructure of No.1 Court. This superstructure includes five more trusses that surround the arena, with two of them, east and west, primarily supporting the retractable roof.

Working around the annual tennis championship, the works are being done over a three-year period. The final steel trusses that span over the court are scheduled to be installed after the 2018 tournament.

Working on behalf of main contractor Sir Robert McAlpine and the client, All England Lawn Tennis Club, Severfield will erect 5,000t of steel for the project.