WINTER | REVIEW
“It feels like you are in a permanent building, with fabulous
letterbox views that really come alive at night?”
– ATP Finals tournament director, Adam Hogg
come alive at night, seeing Canary Wharf
and the lights of the city is spectacular. The
O2 is where the players have been striving to
get to for the past ten months, so let’s ‘hero’
the location. If there’s an option between a
moderate finish and a premium finish, we’ll
pick the latter. This event is for the final
eight, the crème de la creme.”
“There’s a set of deliverables for us that
are non-movable. In 2016 The O2 happened
to have just cleaned the roof of the tent, and
it caused glare into the players’ eyes on the
practice court. As such, , we tested various
UV films on the window. We didn’t want to
move the location because the views of The
O2 are crucial. Many players said it was the
best practice court they’d ever played on.”
The new glass provided views of The O2’s
iconic roofline, and was treated to avoid
the glare of the sun. The triple-deckers
were transformed with creative interiors
by Arena, or sponsors’ own agencies, with
fully appointed facilities including a luxury
player restaurant and lounge, a tennis
family restaurant, sponsors’ hospitality and
reception area.
Arena invested in three-stop lifts and
installed a complex heating and air-
conditioning system that kept the practice
court warm and the VIP suites at a lower
temperature. Arena also supplied all of
the interior walling and lining along with
carpets, lighting, toilets, lifts, catering hoists
and HVAC. The completed areas were then
handed over to various sponsor agencies for
the final install.
Guests entered this ‘VIP Village’ via
a reception area, which incorporated
accreditation and ‘airport style’ security,
joining seamlessly into the main building.
Separate triple-decker structures were also
joined at the rear to house the kitchens.
Although there haven’t been any
fundamental changes to a winning formula
established during a redesign in 2016, some
key areas have evolved with the event. The
redesigned top floor of the player restaurant
features a top floor restaurant with glass
walls to give a 360-degree panorama, which
is particularly stunning at night.
Bluff adds: “The insulation was a crucial
factor for the comfort of guests, but also for
the practice court because the players were
used to training in the heat.
The build was not without its challenges,
Bluff adds: “The O2 site used to be a bit easier
to work on logistically with plenty of open
areas for storage etc, but as AEG moved
forward with their development, space was
harder to find but they found space off site
for us to store kit and check in deliveries,
just a three-minute drive away, which works
really well.
“ATP have given us the infrastructure to
work with, and it’s a great site to work on.
Once the Innovation is up you are cornered
in that area and its been a particular busy
part of site this year with other works taking
place nearby.
“Once the external services are installed
and the players’ bridge is in, space is limited,
so getting the scheduling right is key.”
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