S&C Slatter work with leading manufacturers to deliver stunning, high quality, padel courts across the UK to support the world’s fastest growing sport.
Read on to learn more about the up-and-coming racket sport or contact us to discuss your needs.
With more than 30 years’ experience in sports construction, we’ve proudly designed, built and maintained thousands of sports facilities across the UK.
Working with local tennis clubs and nationwide providers
such as Game4Padel, we construct Padel courts designed to your site, performance, and budgetary requirements.
We simplify the planning process. From initial drawings and full CAD specifications to environmental impact assessments and ecological mitigation plans, our in-house design team can support you through, or fully manage, the planning approval process.
Our construction team combine expertise and capability across the entire construction spectrum. From developing health and safety plans, to executing all aspects of groundworks, drainage, electrics, and court installation we offer simple, effective, single point of contact project management.
Call or email us for an informal chat about your new padel court.
There are ten key stages in the construction of a padel court.
1. Design and planning
Padel courts, although relatively small, will require planning permission, whether new-build or change of use. Concept designs and specifications will be used in the planning process, and once planning is granted these will inform the technical drawings required for construction.
2. Environmental considerations
This stage will capture elements of the design that can mitigate the impact of your padel court, such as eco-friendly options for your artificial surface, water run-off management and overspill from any floodlighting.
3. Health and safety
Here the necessary plans will be put in place to ensure a safe and effective construction site that meets all legislative requirements and safety best practices.
4. Earthworks
Expertly prepared foundations are vital to ensure the integrity, performance and safety of your padel court.
5. Drainage
Here, the specified drainage system will be installed to ensure that the surface of the court is suitable for all-weather play.
6. Sub-base and base
The base system will be constructed with carefully chosen materials supporting the performance and effective drainage of the court.
7. Concrete perimeter ring beam
A perimeter reinforced concrete ring beam is designed by a structural engineer to ensure the structural integrity of the court, and is where the supporting posts or framed panels are affixed with base plates.
8. Surrounding enclosure and rebound walls
A padel court is constructed using mesh and glass panels to enclose the playing area and provides an opportunity to play the ball off the surrounding enclosure.
9. Padel court surface
The padel court surface utilises sand-dressed artificial turf which will be designed to provide you with optimum playing performance and durability.
10. Ancillary equipment
This includes appropriate court nets, equipment and floodlighting – as well as any project specific requirements in support of the padel court, such as access pathways, car parks or sports buildings.
Contact us to discuss the construction process in more detail.
Invented in Mexico in the late 60s, padel – also known as ‘padel tennis’ – is a racket sport that has been rapidly growing over the past decade, with 12 million players worldwide.
The point system is exactly the same as tennis, however the rules differ slightly. The main difference is the walls of the court, built with glass, that are used as part of the game. Players can play the ball off the walls, bringing in elements of squash to the game.
Sociable, fun and easy to play, padel has been integrated into the LTA, who recognise the potential of the fast-growing sport – both as a standalone sport and as a way to attract and retain more members to tennis clubs.
Contact our team to discuss how padel could be suitable for your needs.
The average cost for a new build padel court is usually in the region of £55,000 – £80,000. Taking into consideration the breadth of groundworks, court specification and ancillary requirements, the cost varies, as with any sports construction project, on a number of factors.
These factors include:
– Scope of groundworks required
– Number of courts required
– Required base, sub-base and drainage system
– Chosen artificial turf surface
– Environmental mitigation methods
– Floodlighting, fencing and equipment requirements
Beyond the construction of the padel court itself, additional work may be needed in the form of ancillary equipment and civil engineering. This can include elements such as access pathways, hard standings, roadways and car parks, which you may wish to factor into your overall project costs.
Please get in touch if you’d like an example of a detailed breakdown of project costs, or a quote based on your requirements.
The longest part of the process, as with most construction projects, will be taking the padel court through the design and planning stage.
After planning permission is granted, a construction programme will be agreed with you. The typical length of time on-site to construct a new padel court is between 6-8 weeks.
Padel Court with Pillars
The LTA offers a Quick Access Loan Scheme, providing interest free loans from £25,000 to £250,000 for eligible organisations to fund tennis and padel facilities.
For organisations who aren’t eligible, private funding options may be available, such as operating leases or hire purchase agreements. We work exclusively with Buckingham Leasing to offer competitive funding solutions for sports facilities.
Padel courts are 25% smaller than a traditional tennis courts, meaning less space is required for construction. This means it’s easier to integrate padel into smaller spaces to maximise under-utilised areas for sport.
A social sport, padel is most commonly played in the doubles format, again maximising the usage of space while enhancing revenue potential from court hire.
Padel is a more accessible sport than tennis, easy to pick up and play for players of all ages and abilities. Growing in popularity, padel is becoming increasingly attractive to leisure centres, tennis clubs and schools for its revenue potential and as a way to encourage participation in sport.
The life cycle of an expertly built and properly maintained padel court can be up to 20 years.
In most cases our padel courts utilise laser-cut galvanised steel frames with 12mm tempered glass and a galvanised steel electro-welded mesh, featuring an anti-injury system, to ensure long-lasting safety and optimum performance.
Unless otherwise specified by the client, our court designs follow the Code of Practice for the Construction of Padel Courts developed by SAPCA (the Sports and Play Construction Association) and guidance issued by the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association).
Contact us to discuss your new padel court requirements.
Padel courts feature sand-dressed artificial turf playing surfaces, which are also commonly used for hockey pitches, Gen 2 pitches and multi-use games areas.
As with all sand-dressed synthetic surfaces, it’s crucial to regularly maintain your padel surface to maximise its performance, safety and lifespan.
Sand-dressed artificial turf maintenance can include brushing, decompaction, infill management and the removal of debris. Other areas of a padel court that require maintenance include the surrounding structure, such as tightening the bolts on the glass panels.
Get in touch with our Maintenance Division to find out more about padel maintenance or to discuss your court maintenance needs.
S&C Slatter partner with leading padel court manufacturers to design and construct quality padel courts in the UK.
Our in-house civil engineering team are experts in creating quality sub-bases, bases and drainage systems, utilising our artificial turf partners FieldTurf for cutting edge synthetic surfaces.
If you have any further questions on padel, or would like to arrange a free site visit to discuss your new court, please get in touch.
For more information call 01635 34521 or email enquiries@slattersportsconstruction.com
