Zhuhai Tennis Centre

The WTA Elite Trophy is an outdoor tournament which requires equal temperature and humidity on both covered and uncovered courts and this created multiple design challenges. In addition there was a limited budget.

The solution, to meet the tournament requirements and the budget, was a cantilevered outer roof over the seating and a circular inner roof over the court.  This cost- effective roof offered protection to players and spectators while allowing a true outdoor feel, with natural air breeze and filtered sunlight permeating the Centre.

The first stage included a Centre Court with 5,000 seats, a match court with 1500 seats, four match courts with 250 seats each, and 12 training courts. The venue held its first successful tournament two months later and the WTA Elite Trophy will be played at the venue every year until 2019.

The roof solution enabled Zhuhai Tennis Centre to meet the specific requirements of the international tournament and together, with the rest of the design, achieved a top quality fan, player, and media experience with match and training facilities positioned to accommodate and attract high profile international players.

The 5,000 seat arena feels so intimate you can hear the bounce of every ball, and practically feel the emotion of the players, which increases the intensity of the atmosphere for fans.

Zhuhai Tennis Centre also provides large plazas around the building, enabling the flow of people into the building through large passage ways.

Populous worked locally with the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD) to generate structural, interior and landscape designs for the project.

Zhuhai Tennis Centre is the first international standard tennis facility built in China with a roof yet still recognized as an outdoor tennis centre.  Hosting the WTA Elite Trophy has put the lesser-known city of Zhuhai on the world map with tennis fans across the globe. The transformation of the site from disused ponds into a sculpturally spectacular, culturally significant, green recreation space has proven a major win for locals too. Since its opening, it also hosted the ATP Challenger Tour and the ITL Women Circuit.