Development of Retractable Roofs for Tennis Stadia at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, New York, NY

David M. Campbell P.E.* and Keith M. MacBain Ph.D., P.E.† * Geiger Gossen Campbell Engineers, P.C. 2 Executive Blvd. Suite 309 Suffern, NY 10901 USA e-mail: [email protected], web page: http://www.geigerengineers.com

† Geiger Gossen Campbell Engineers, P.C. 2 Executive Blvd. Suite 309 Suffern, NY 10901 USA Email: [email protected] - Web page: http://www.geigerengineers.com

ABSTRACT

Retractable roofs employing structural membranes have been developed for two tennis stadia at the United States Tennis Association's Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, the new roof covering Arthur Ashe Stadium and the roof for the new Louis Armstrong Stadium. The National Tennis Center is home of the US Open tournament. The Ashe Stadium roof completed in 2016 covers the existing Center Court stadium constructed in 1997. The new Armstrong Stadium is under construction and will be completed in 2018. The Architect for both projects is Rossetti Associates of Detroit, MI. Both retractable roofs employ structural membrane similarly, albeit the path by which the designs were conceived and developed are quite different. This paper summarizes the design development of these operable roofs with respect to the use of structural membranes. Details of the structural membrane designs are presented. These stadia roofs have been developed solely to permit match tennis in rain during the US Open. As tennis is an outdoor sport but cannot be safely played on a wet court, the retractable roofs are intended to be open throughout the tournament except during periods of precipitation, when the roofs are closed. Structural membrane has been employed in a manner suiting this use while satisfying other design objectives. The paper reviews the structural membrane roof alternatives considered and the development of the designs.