Try sent off court as tennis begins

Few of the thousands of strawberry-munching tennis fans who have witnessed this year's Wimbledon tennis championships will have realised the extent of the cleverly disguised construction site just yards away from the centre court.

The Try Construction team - involved in the tricky task of building the new 11,000 seat court No. 1 for the All England Lawn Tennis Club - have craftily retreated from the scene to maintain the championship's theme of an 'English Country Garden'.

Extensive temporary works, carried out in the last few months, have enabled the club's infrastructure to function gracefully and to hide the true extent of the construction work.

One of Try's first tasks was to remove two of the four tower cranes on site to ensure that the tennis players' line of sight, as they throw up the tennis ball for a serve, is unimpeded. The remaining two cranes are required to be staffed throughout the championships by two lucky drivers who, although roasting in the heat, have been enjoying a bird's eye view of the whole proceedings.

The new court is being built in the Aorangi Park area of the club which in previous years has housed the complex of corporate hospitality marquees and catering facilities which supply the hungry tennis devotees.

This year the facilities are still located in the same area but have had to be accommodated within and around the site of the partly built court while still maintaining just the right air of understated 'Englishness' which keeps Wimbledon at the top. To achieve this Try has had to be particularly creative.

With the championships occupying centre stage, if not centre court, the contractor can only work on the permanent works of the new court for nine months each year during the 36 month contract. For the remaining three months Try concentrates on the temporary works. This has involved setting up temporary hospitality cabins beneath the recently cast first floor slab, installing a balustrade and temporarily asphalting the top surface of the slab itself to take catering facilities.

The contractor has also prepared areas for picnics, a ramp which takes visitors from the car park to the picnic areas and temporary access roads for the army of catering vehicles which supply the complex.

The period of working on all these preparations has overlapped with the permanent works which Try is obviously trying to progress as quickly as possible. Work on the court construction itself ceased at the end of May at which point the contractor started to protect its work, boxing in starter bars and column kickers and adapting the drainage system for temporary use during the championships.

While the championships are actually underway most of Try's offices have been handed over to the security staff. The remaining offices are occupied by Try's construction team who are keeping a low profile and laying the groundwork for the next year's programme. In the meantime tradesmen have been shifted onto other jobs.

As this year's championships approach their climax, the Try team is gearing up for the return to the site of the new Court No. 1 in mid July.