Prater wins UK Roofing Award for work on Wimbledon’s No.1 Court

Prater has won the Sheeting, Cladding and Rainscreen award at the 2019 UK Roofing Awards earlier this month for its innovative work with partner BEMO at Wimbledon.

The specialist building envelope contractor delivered an extensive roofing package for Wimbledon’s No.1 Court at the All England Lawn Tennis Club – the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC).

The roof of No.1 Court required a bespoke design, allowing it to move and ensure that play can continue regardless of the weather during games. Initially, the steel structure provided a facetted surface, while the design intent required a smooth external roof surface. In order to overcome the varying distances between the structure and external surface, the roof was constructed using the BEMOFlex system – specifically designed and created for this project by BEMO.

Prater and BEMO worked together to construct two offsite mock-ups prior to work starting onsite. This allowed them to better understand the complexities of the system, its strengths and weaknesses, as well as learn the process and length of time of the installation. Having seen the proposal in a physical form, AELTC was able to approve the product design.

Due to the need for the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) to be accessible every year for the tennis Championships, the project was divided into three separate phases. This added greater complexity to the project and meant that each element had to be delivered to schedule.

Working with other supply chain partners including Bailey, Sika Sarnafil and Radmat, Prater also delivered an extensive hot melt waterproof package to the project – as well as a 3000m2 cladding package to the outer wall with Bailey rainscreen cladding, soffits and bullnoses installed to both the inner and outer bowl.