West Worthing Squash and Tennis Club


Location:	Worthing, West Sussex, UK

Building Series:	TITAN® Low Slope

Building Size:	131' wide x 160' long (39.9m x 48.7m)

Application:	Indoor Tennis Training Facility

The Need

Located four miles west of Worthing town centre, the West Worthing Tennis and Squash Club is essentially a family oriented club. Owned solely by the members, the Club is purely for the benefit and enjoyment of the members and offers a wide variety of sporting activities, including squash, tennis, billiards, snooker, bridge, table tennis, etc.

As a result of inclement weather, the Club recognized the need for an indoor tennis facility to accommodate the members and year round training.

The Solution

West Worthing Club looked to Summit Structures for the solution to their need. Summit Structures constructed a 131' wide x 160' long (39.9m x 48.7m) TITAN® Low Slope structure to serve as an indoor tennis training facility.

"We found the company very easy to deal with. All of the staff and the subcontractors were excellent right from the word go and any items that needed ironing out were immediately dealt with," says John Barton, Vice Chairman and Tennis Chairman, West Worthing Squash and Tennis Club.

The Project

This state-of-the-art three court facility guarantees continuous coaching and training throughout the year regardless of weather. Weather tight, rolling, steel shutter doors were installed at each gable end to allow the option of sunlight and breeze in on nice days.

The indoor facility has resulted in a significant increase in all junior programs and provided the club with increased memberships as a result of guaranteed court time.

"We have used the structure for our junior coaching sessions. On Saturdays from nine in the morning until half past seven in the evening, there is group coaching. This has resulted in a 49% increase in junior members in the two years that we've had the structure. The adult members, even the skeptics, now play inside the structure and we are at about 89% capacity at peak times. So it means we can play tennis all year round," says Barton.

The sound dampening properties of the DuraWeave® cover create a hushed atmosphere within the building, making it easier for instructors to be heard by the students during indoor tennis training.

The Details

The Club chose a white and green color scheme for the exterior of their tennis facility. The white translucent fabric on the top of the building allows natural light to enter the building, creating a natural atmosphere for those choosing to play indoors and minimizing the need for artificial lighting.

"It is one of the best structures we've found, having looked at many, where you can play tennis as though you are outside. The amount of space which is afforded to the tennis member inside is astounding," says Barton. "We are getting more and more players who would prefer to play inside than outside. And a lot of coaching goes on in the summer because people prefer to play and be coached indoors to being outside in the sunshine."

Customer Feedback

"We've had this structure now for two and a half years and it has changed radically the coaching structure that we've been able to set up. Obviously now, everything is certain of happening, we now plan our sessions for year round program and are able to coach the little ones inside throughout the winter where as before we used to stop them for four to five months of the year," says Jonathan Pocock, Tennis Pro, West Worthing Tennis Club. "We've been able to bring in another full time coach and we now also have two extra assistants. I've now gotten into a situation where I do all my coaching in here. I don't even go outside any more because in the summertime, we just lift up the shutters at the side. People are quite happy to come in here and have their sessions in here - even if it's a lovely day outside. The quality of work has gone up as well so overall I'm absolutely happy. The only problem is I don't get a rest. We used to get a few days off for rain but now not at all."