Shanghai's Qi Zhong Tennis Centre was completed in 2006 and is Asia's largest tennis facility. It is home to a Tennis Academy where Shanghai's junior talent is developed.

The Centre Court Stadium, completed in August 2005, has been specially built to stage the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai 2005-2007, the year-end world championship for men's professional tennis.

The Shanghai Municipal Government and the Qi Zhong Group Company have funded the building of the Tennis Centre.

CENTRE COURT STADIUM

Initial Design Concept

The Qi Zhong Centre Court Stadium combines international design and engineering expertise. In 2003, the bidding management office of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Construction and Administration conducted an international tender to design the proposed tennis facility on 80 hectares in the southwest of Shanghai, the Minhang District.

The winning bid came from world-renowned Japanese architect Mitsuru Senda and his company Environment Design Institute (EDI), an architectural and landscape firm specializing in children's environments including schools, museums, child centers, hospitals, sports facilities, parks, play structures, and housings.

EDI has designed award winning sports stadiums in Japan including the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Centre and the Tokoname Municipal Gymnasium. Mr. Senda, a former President and now honorary member of the Architectural Institute of Japan, established EDI in 1968 with a design philosophy to adapt comprehensive planning with the design of the environment.

"In many cases, sports facilities involve very big spaces and it is therefore necessary to consider closely just what influence they will have on the surrounding environment. Also the relationship between internal and external spaces is very important." (http://www.ms-edi.co.jp/e_policy_1.html)

One of the key design Featuress that won EDI the bid was the unique eight-piece magnolia roof, which resembles a flower blooming when opening. The roof enables the stadium to play both indoor and outdoor tennis events.
Mr. Senda said, "The movable roof of the main stadium consists of eight petals and each petal turns around on one fulcrum at the same time. Under the petals, there is a round truss, which has an inverted triangle section, and it supports the petals."
More information is contained in Mitsuru Senda's Design Concept for the Qi Zhong Stadium.

Design Adaptation and Engineering

The tender for project managing the research, testing and technically adaptations for the stadium design was won by SIADR (Shanghai Institute of Architectural Design & Research). SIADR also worked with independent building contractors to oversee construction. SIADR will also manage and design Phase 2 of the Qi Zhong Tennis Centre for construction of the remaining tennis courts and clubhouse.
Architect Zhao Chen and engineer Lin Ying Ru led the SIADR team. Both have worked on many of Shanghai's largest structures and sporting facilities. Mr. Lin, an engineer with more than three decades of experience, oversaw the building of Shanghai's first sports stadium, the 80,000 seat Shanghai Stadium in 1993.

The architect and engineer traveled to Roland Garros to gather ideas for the Qi Zhong stadium. "We were impressed with the beautiful surroundings and deep sense of tennis history," said Mr. Lin.

Back in Shanghai, the team faced a number of challenges with making the design a reality. Mr. Zhao said, "We spent millions of RMB and one year researching whether this kind of roof was actually feasible. There was no other project like this, which could act as a reference point. We also researched whether the stadium could withstand earthquakes, typhoons and other environmental impacts by creating a model to simulate these effects."

"Each leaf of the roof, we built on the ground first. The method of testing each leaf on the ground is similar to that used by China Aerospace where each roof piece must pass a test before it is elevated to its position for installation."

A 'tension ring structure' is used inside the stadium to create a strong coliseum shape. Reinforcement steel has been used both inside and outside the concrete.

Other companies involved in the Tennis Centre's Construction include:
•  China Construction Third Bureau - construction contractor
•  Jiangnan Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. - steel infrastructure
•  Shanghai Mechanical Construction Co., Ltd. - roof construction

TENNIS CENTRE FACTS

Location
•  Located in Ma Qiao Town of Minhang District in the south west of Shanghai. There will be a total of 40 courts when the Phase 2 is completed. (Centre Court Stadium, 3 small indoor stadiums,14 indoor courts and 22 outdoor courts)
•  The Tennis Centre will be part of the Qi Zhong Forest Sports City Complex which includes a golf course and residential villas with a total area of 20 km2.

Stadium
•  The Tennis Centre covers a total area of 338,836 square meters, of which 85,000 square meters are made up of structures. Its volume rate is 0.187, building density 15.1%, green/open space 46.1%, and parking capacity is 993 spaces.
•  The center court stadium Featuress 30,649 square meters of construction. It has four floors, measuring a total height of 40 meters above ground level. The center court Featuress a steel roof with eight petal-shaped pieces (each petal weighs two tonnes) which resemble a magnolia, Shanghai's city flower. The opening of the roof represents the blooming of a magnolia flower.
•  The roof will take eight minutes to completely open or close.
•  The stadium can be adapted for other international events such as basketball, volleyball, ping pang, or gymnastics.
•  During the Tennis Masters Cup event, there will be a retail zone and public eating/drinking areas outside the stadium.

Seating
•  Besides regular seats, the center court will also Features VIP, media, and handicapped seating. ( The Stadium has special elevators and seating areas, to ensure that the facility is wheelchair friendly.)
•  The Centre Court seats 15,000 people. The court is surrounded by 30 permanent rows of seats (12,000). Another 3,000 VIP seats are found in the 26 deluxe skyboxes and courtside box seats. These seats will have access to the private hospitality lounges and dining areas.
•  There is an air-conditioning outlet under each seat, which can be used for both cooling and heating. In summer, cool air can be released to disperse the heat, while in winter a current of heat will the stadium warm.

Players lounge
•  The stadium houses private locker rooms with shower and massage facilities, for each Tennis Masters Cup (singles) player. In addition, there will be a players' lounge, gym and dining area so can warm up before a match and relax afterwards without leaving the venue. Players' comfort has been a top priority for venue design.

360 degrees of Unobstructed Sightlines
•  The stadium has built 20 broadcasting rooms at the highest level of the venue, which will allow simultaneous television coverage by 20 different media groups. Space is also reserved inside the inner court ring for broadcasting equipment. Given the circular shape of Centre Court, there is little to block views, which provide excellent sight lines for TV broadcasting.

Media Center
•  The 1800 square meter Media Center will be of the highest international standards, equipped with 240 individual journalist workstations with telephone and Internet access and a special photographer locker room for equipment.

Parking
•  Shuttle buses between the site and various downtown locations will be arranged for the Tennis Masters Cup events. In addition, there will be 993 parking spaces.