Completion of Wimbledon roof contract

Wednesday, 06 May 2009 12:12

Hightex is pleased to announce that it has completed its work on the membrane element of the new retractable roof over the Centre Court at the All England Club, Wimbledon. This modern, highly visible, retractable roof will enable all weather play during the Championships at Wimbledon. The installation work began in late 2008.

The retractable roof over Wimbledon's Centre Court is a type of 'folding fabric concertina'. This allows the roof to be folded into a highly compressed area and parked over the fixed canopy when not in use over the court. More than 7,000 square metres of a very strong. flexible translucent woven PTFE material have been used for the roof, which will still allow a level of natural light to reach the grass. The roof has been designed to close and open in under 10 minutes. It is divided into two sections with a total of nine bays of structural fabric - four bays in one section and five in the other. Each of the nine bays of structural fabric is clamped on either side by prismatic steel trusses. There are 10 trusses spanning approximately 75 metres across the court. The ends of each truss are supported by a set of wheels that move along a track positioned on the new 'fixed' roof of the Centre Court.

Hightex specializes in large span roof systems particularly for sports stadia, and has built a reputation for innovative solutions to meet the designers' wishes. Hightex has also built a range of different retractable roof systems including moving truss and cable supported systems.