How a pair of dilapidated school tennis courts were revitalised with premium turf
Written by
29 August 2023
•
4 min read
In 2019, the tennis courts at Cambridge Primary School were in a bad state. They were glorified pavements, complete with worn down concrete and fading yellow lines that barely demarcated the boundaries of the service and base lines.
The school was eager to revamp the courts, but made the decision to improve just one of them in the beginning, taking the cautious route in case the refurbished court did not live up to expectations.
Luckily for the school, the contractor they engaged – TigerTurf – came through with such a thoroughly impressive transformation of the run-down court that, soon after, they engaged TigerTurf once again to do a similarly game-changing thing to an adjacent court.
ArchiPro sat down with TigerTurf’s Business Development Manager, George Lewis, who sheds some light on the products and solutions used at Cambridge Primary School and why they were such a success.
ArchiPro: Tell me about the original surface, and how TigerTurf revamped it.
George Lewis: Before our work began on the first tennis court, the pavement was cracked and deteriorating – so the first thing we did was repair the surface, in order to have a smooth, even base for our turf. We then laid a 10mm shock-absorbing rubber pad over the asphalt.
Once that was done, the surface was ready for us to apply our product – in this case, the Trophy artificial grass. Designed for multi-sport use in schools and clubs, the Trophy turf is manufactured to withstand years of hard use through its durable, high quality yarn. It provides consistent performance for sports like hockey and tennis, as well as basketball and netball. It’s a particularly responsive turf, reacting positively to ball spin and providing firm traction underfoot – making it ideal for hockey and tennis.
For our first court at Cambridge Primary School, we finished it with permanent fresh white lines for basketball and gold lines for netball.
AP: The school engaged you for another job soon after completing the first court – how was this one different?
GL: The new court is close to the first TigerTurf court installed in 2019 for Cambridge Primary School and has the same dark green playing areas with an olive-green border, though marked for different sports.
Since it’s adjacent to the first one, once the second one was finished it gave the appearance of a cohesive central recreational area – which almost immediately became hugely popular with the students, especially the sports teams.
AP: What are the benefits of the Trophy turf?
GL: The two new courts are undoubtedly an improvement over their predecessors, but more importantly, the students suffer fewer injuries and grazes thanks to the 10mm shock pad as well as the dense, soft thatch of the turf itself, which cushions those inevitable tumbles and falls.
The Trophy turf features a non-slip surface that helps reduce the number of falls and allows for sports teams to learn advanced skills, running hard with fewer impact injuries.
The old, cracked slippery asphalt has been all but forgotten and the soft, all-weather new courts can be used safely every day, wet or dry for all ball sports, for drama, rehearsals and group discussions, PE classes, school assemblies and outdoor activities.
AP: It sounds like it’s been a success – how have the courts been received at Cambridge Primary School?
GL: The TigerTurf team takes pride in the professional finish we give every turf we install, and the Cambridge Primary School community is proud of the engaging, bright, all-weather TigerTurf Trophy multi-use courts provided for their students and staff. TigerTurf is especially delighted that the two TigerTurf courts are still the hot spots for sports and play.
Learn more about TigerTurf and its artificial turf products.
