Tennis Olympic Centre for Rio 2016 Games is under construction

The building of the Tennis Centre for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games started at the end of October 2013 and works are on schedule. The centre is expected to be finished by the end of 2015. Located in the Olympic Park in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro’s west zone, the centre shall be the stage of the tennis competitions during the Olympics. In addition, it will also host the wheelchair tennis and 5-a-side football events at the Paralympic Games.

After Rio 2016, part of the Olympic tennis facility will be integrated to the Olympic Training Centre (OTC), the Games’ main legacy for high performance athletes in Brazil and South America. Tournaments from the international tennis circuit will also be able to be held at the venue.

For the Rio 2016 competitions, the Tennis Centre will have capacity for 19,750, spread between eight permanent and eight temporary courts. The biggest court will be permanent, with a seating capacity of 10 thousand people. Another court, with a seating capacity of 5 thousand people, will be assembled using temporary structures. An additional permanent court will have a seating capacity of 3 thousand people. Also, thirteen outdoor courts will be set up: seven of them (six permanent) will have a seating capacity of 250 people and will be used for matches. The others will be used for training and warming-up exercises.

After the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the facilities at the Tennis Centre will be adjusted in order to be integrated to the future Olympic Training Centre. Therefore, the location of each court already takes into account the legacy related issues of the facility. As a result, the temporary structures may be disassembled without hindering the implementation of the OTC.

Funding

According to the sharing of responsibilities between the agencies organising the Games, the federal government is funding the Tennis Centre's construction and the upkeep of the building. Rio de Janeiro City Hall has been in charge of the engineering project and is also heading the construction works. The funding amounts are as follows:

- Building of permanent structures: R$ 134.3 million

- Building of temporary structures: R$ 28.5 million

- Disassembly, operation and maintenance:  R$ 12.6 million

Cost optimisation

The Tennis Centre’s construction and maintenance project has provided for practical and simple facilities, with minimum operational costs. Indeed, these concepts are being used in all sport venues being built at the Olympic Park in Barra da Tjuca. One of the cost reducing measures was standardising the materials that will be used at the Tennis Centre and in another three venues (Water Sports Centre, Handball Arena and the Olympic Velodrome), which are being built at the Olympic Park in Barra da Tijuca with federal government funding.

The same principle of minimum operational costs was adopted for common technology items, like scoreboards. The decision was made to standardise and rent everything that was not absolutely necessary for the future operation of the facilities, or that could end up outdated from a technological perspective.

Like other permanent structures of the Olympic Park, the Tennis Centre is aiming to be awarded the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certificate, which is a seal of approval in relation to the environmental sustainability of a building's design, its construction and operation.

Olympic Training Centre

The Olympic Training Centre (OTC) will be a centre of excellence for Brazilian sport, providing high standard services through coordinated programmes and facilities, which will be made available to different sports, tennis among them. The structure will provide cooperation opportunities with countries from Africa, South America, the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries, among others, through the exchange of experience, and the training of athletes and sport professionals in different areas. It may also establish partnerships with International Olympic Committee programmes, like the Olympic Solidarity, or with National Olympic Committees.

TENNIS OLYMPIC CENTRE

Measuring 1.18 million m², the Olympic Park in Barra will be the heart of the Rio 2016 Games and will host competitions in 16 Olympic and 10 Paralympic sports. According to the project, until 2030 sports facilities and new construction projects will make up a neighbourhood that will be a benchmark in sustainability related terms for the city, with new energy efficiency and accessibility components. Serviced by two new BRT lines, the Transolímpica and the Transcarioca, it will be an open neighbourhood, contrary to most housing complexes in Barra da Tijuca. The work started on 6 July 2012.

In order to build the Olympic Part, Rio de Janeiro City Hall established two partnership agreements. A Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the amount of R$ 1.35 billion will allow for the building and maintenance of the infrastructure (for 15 years) at the Olympic Park and the Olympic Villa. The building of three sports pavilions is also provided for in the PPP, which after the Games will be part of the Olympic Training Centre, the Main Press Centre (MPC), the International Broadcasting Centre (IBC) and a hotel.  With the exception of the hotel, the other structures are being built.

In order to enable the construction of the Tennis Centre, the Water Centre, Velodrome and the Handball Arena, facilities not covered by the PPP, City Hall has signed a cooperation agreement with the federal government, which is providing the necessary resources. City Hall has funded the basic and executive projects, and is in charge of delivering the construction works. The partnership agreement has made a relevant part of the project possible, which according to the Bid Book was to be under the exclusive charge of the federal government. The construction works of the Water Centre, Velodrome and Handball Arena will start this year.