Once the United States Open crowns a men’s champion on September 7 at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York, the largest racket on the site will not be the players, but the start of the public with a $ 800 million project to update the world’s largest tennis stadium and add a new player performance center.
Hell Matt Rossetti, who began discussing the project, which has already begun with the reinforcement of columns at the Arthur Ashe Stadium of 24,000 places and has been working in a place where the Rossetti firm has worked since 1990.
ENR: What does it mean for you to continue working on the NTC?
Rossetti: It’s funny, we have hundreds of projects we have done and whenever they ask me what is my favorite project or which project is most special, it is always this project, not only for longevity, creativity and innovation, but the U.S. (NTC owners) is never based on their heels. They always look for something innovative and different to differentiate. In addition, they are only older people to work. They are wonderful.
What do you think will be the most remarkable aspect of the project for fans?
It will certainly be the frontal entrance. Ninety percent of fans will not experience clubs and suites, but they will notice an incredible change at the frontal entrance, how it works, as you can see. Then, at the walk level, we are making a whole remake of the whole venue, detail, food, spaces for eating and seeing the campus. All this will be expanded and reformed.
What do you see as the most difficult aspects of the design?
All the premium that we are putting in all these new clubs are in spaces that most used to be outdoors. How can we turn something like this into partly interior, fully interior and fully outdoors, the combination of entering and leaving, and where the systems stop and begin with a fabulous fan experience?
The loads have been a design problem in Ashe, infamament built in an old dump place, how did this play in this plan?
Most people will not see what is being done. Are three years of [total] The construction, and the first year was simply to strengthen all the columns and structural elements that will bring part of this additional load. There is a complete work work, the entire structural infrastructure to manage all these changes. No one will see it, just do.
Which Ashe items needed more modernization?
The back of the house is tripling because the amount of additional food service that now happens in the building. There is only an incredible amount of hospitality to be taken into account. The load inside and out of the ice, the cooling and the vertical circulation to reach the right places, the back of the house was key to solving not only for the food service, but for the whole building. At that time, all the player’s facilities, the program spaces, are things that were within the lowest level of events that move to the new player’s performance center. That was an important need.
Are there any design elements that are especially intrigued to see life?
As I mentioned, the new front input items. They will go to the ground, over the new television studios, and then rise even above the level of walk. Inside the mesh of steel, they will provide some shadow and an incredible point of view to look and give the building an incredibly playful and contemporary presence that reflects the dynamics of the tennis work and a little towards the history of Unisphere [next door on the Flushing Meadows site].
Is the front entry a collaborative process?
Yes we had a lot of fun with Daniel Libeskind [and Studio Libeskind]. They have been wonderful to work.
How do you see that this evolution merges with the history of the place?
We have created it as the third vernacular. We start with the earth cotta, with the blue and white color. Then we made the grandstand [stadium with additional buildings on site] And he created a new bricklayer with the courts of the South Square, which was the second iteration of a more contemporary appearance and colored palette and design guidelines. Then, with this new, we further branched to make it a more contemporary style and palette that adapt to both the U.S. Open’s legacy and the energy of New York City.
Are you planning that the construction goes into a frenzy in September?
Yes, it will be crazy. The mobilization you will see will be very intense and it will be very fun to see it.
