Sheffield engineering firm aces first year of Wimbledon No.1 Court roof scheme

SCX Group, the Sheffield-based engineering company, has completed the first year of a three-year project to construct a retractable roof for the new No.1 Court at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, home of The Championships, Wimbledon.

SCX Special Projects, part of the SCX Group, was awarded the contract after designing, manufacturing and installing a similar retractable roof over Wimbledon’s Centre Court in 2009.

The new roof has already used more than 3,500 tonnes of steel.

The deal is part of a multi-million-pound project by the AELTC to redevelop No.1 Court, which will increase its seating capacity and transform it into a grass court arena capable of guaranteed play in all weather conditions.

When this year’s Wimbledon Championships start on 3rd July, the 11,500 spectators in No.1 Court will see the extent of the redevelopment.

Work is on schedule for completion in time for the 2019 tournament.

Simon Eastwood, SCX Group managing director, said: “We are very proud to have built the original retractable roof on Centre Court, and subsequently to have been chosen by the AELTC to work on No.1 Court.

“It’s testament to the successful engineering solutions and skills we used first time around that we were in a position to embark on the second project. SCX is now firmly one of the leading builders of kinetic architecture in the UK.”

SCX Special Project is constructing the roof, which is based on a concertina design with two main sections that meet in the middle, from transparent Gore Tenara (a type of Gore-Tex fabric) which is stretched between the steel trusses.

The roof is made up of eleven trusses, weighs around 1,100 tonnes and can be deployed or retracted in around 8 minutes.

SCX is responsible for design and supply of all the mechanical and electrical equipment, and also for the construction of all the components that make up the moving sections of the roof.

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