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Faithful+Gould has been contracted by USTA to upgrade the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York.

The five year contract calls for Faithful+Gould to add a new retractable roof over the Arthur Ashe Stadium, undertake infrastructure upgrades and also construct two new stadiums. The renovation work which began at the end of the 2013 US Open is scheduled to be completed by the 2018 US Open.

The retractable roof is being designed by ROSSETTI, the original designer and architect of Arthur Ashe Stadium. The roof will be built using flexible, translucent PTFE fabric stretched over a steel frame and it will supported by eight steel columns to be built around the Arthur Ashe Stadium. As part of the upgrades, the center’s east entrance which typically is a crowded entry point during major tournaments will also be modernized.

By August 2018 the venue will also sport a new 15,000-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium. Faithful+Gould asserted that it will help the USTA capitalize on the large program effort to create standards for tracking and managing its project portfolio.

Faithful+Gould stated that it offers services to meet the full range of client needs within infrastructure from project inception, financing and design to construction and operations. The company supposedly leverages its global reach to deliver resources to manage complex commercial development projects, while its local presence enables it to provide individual attention to projects of all sizes.

Faithful+Gould added that when it comes to art, leisure and sports, customers normally would expect the very best experience, service and presentation standards. Along with developing and managed infrastructure projects, it also possesses the necessary skills, experience, industry knowledge and creativity not only to match but to exceed these customer expectations.  

Faithful+Gould is said to have collaborated with parent company Atkins on this project by leveraging its prior stadium experience at the London Olympics, and including Mike Otlet, technical director and lecturer in stadium design, on its team.