Grand Slam Renovation C

Innovative Materials Elevate Stadium Makeover

hallenged with transforming an aging tennis stadium in Charleston, South Carolina, into the ultimate venue for refined revelry, designers looked to one of the pioneering companies in the surface & panel industry.

“We wanted this space to look very sophisticated and serene, yet it needed to be extremely durable,” says Michelle Hertel, Senior Interior Designer with LS3P Associates LTD, a multidisciplinary firm offering architecture, interiors, and planning services to a wide variety of clients nationwide. “Formica proved to be one of the solutions to that challenge.”

Hertel led the design team for the Credit One Stadium expansion, which began in 2020 and was completed less than two years later — no small feat for a project of this size during

BY JENNIFER WILLIAMS

the COVID-era. In the end, they helped create a world-class tennis stadium that can transition to an elite entertainment venue. The design features a reimagined VIP club level, wellness-focused player and performer amenities, media and support spaces, and private hospitality suites ringing center court.

As home to the largest women-only tennis tournament in North America and one of the largest concert venues in the area, Credit One Stadium required design solutions to accommodate its diverse users. Amenity spaces needed to be luxurious enough to compete with those of the Grand Slam tournaments around the world in order to draw top competitors year after year. Support spaces needed to be versatile enough to transition from a media broadcast to a full-scale concert. The team needed to consider how each space would be used and curate an aesthetic that

LEFT:

RIGHT: could evolve from day to night; bright, airy environments are favorable for day tennis, shifting to a subdued aesthetic which is keenly focused on center court by night. Finishes and fixtures needed to be durable enough for large events, yet elegant enough to create an intimate escape.

“Our concept was inspired by a Charleston garden,” says Hertel. “And we wanted to make sure that the inside was kind of restrained and quiet so that your attention would go to the main court, or if there's a concert that your attention could still be brought to the stage. The tennis tournament takes place during the day and the concerts are typically held at night, so you have a space that needs to look beautiful to different patron groups and look good day or night, any time of the year. We worked to coordinate all the colors and finishes throughout the stadium so that the exterior was really married to the interior and it all blended well together.”

The design team also drew inspiration from the abstraction of a tennis ball, and a circular motif is subtly woven into every space through arches, light fixtures, tile patterns, and wall textures. Utilizing a restrained color palette, the various program areas are defined by aesthetic changes in the texture and pattern of materials, furnishings, and custom art installations.

Surfaced Panels To The Rescue

With their flexibility, durability and affordability, Hertel says surfaced panels have become increasingly popular for use in commercial spaces, from stadiums to retail stores to doctor’s offices. And the advances in realistic replication of natural materials only make the manmade options more attractive to designers and consumers alike, also allowing for a more sustainable product.