Al's Photography Blog

Al's Photography Blog
Pikes Peak As Seen From Our House

Monday, May 24, 2010

My World Tuesday - Tennis and Inflatable Buildings

My son plays tennis, and one of the places that holds regular tournaments is the local Flying Horse club. The indoor tennis there is held in what is basically a big inflatable building. A concrete base forms the foundation, and then the building is blown up on top of that. Huge fans run constantly to keep the air pressure inside the building higher than the outside air pressure; this keeps the roof from falling in. In this first shot you can see the curvature of the building and the entrance, which is a rotating door that serves as an air lock.
Thick cables anchor the bubble to the foundation to keep it from flying away in strong winds.
Inside you can see the lights hanging from the roof, lighting the four full-sized tennis courts. When the wind is strong, these lights swing back and forth as the roof moves.
The roof curves up, and a curtain is hung from the ceiling so people can walk between the courts without getting hit by tennis balls.
These indoor tennis bubbles are springing up all over the place in Colorado, my guess is that they are cheaper to build than a steel and concrete structure. That's a part of my world for this week, for other interesting posts, visit the main My World Tuesday web page.

13 comments:

  1. This dome is amazing! Very cool idea! Does the air pressure affect the way people play tennis inside?

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  2. That is amazing indeed! I've never seen anything like this before! What fabulous shot for the day, Al! I love it! Hope your week is off to a great start!

    Sylvia

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  3. I've always wondered what these look like inside. :)

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  4. What a fab building - never seen one like that before - your photos make it look like a sculpture.

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  5. I haven't been in one of these either. What is the lighting like to play under? Do they ever rupture? Thanks for sharing.
    Smiles

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  6. This is something new, very well captured, thanks for sharing

    Gumbaz, Srirangapatna

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  7. I do wish something like this could be designed as a disaster relief shelter, only much lower of course. It would keep so many people protected from the elements.

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  8. Fascinating Al.
    Great world and captures.

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  9. That is interesting. It must be a wonderful experience playing inside.

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  10. Oh this is art - so interesting and artistic :)
    http://foto.rudenius.se/post/2010/05/25/My-World-e28093-Budapest-just-now.aspx

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  11. This is very intriguing! I've never seen anything like it!

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  12. Hi Al, thanks for your encouraging comment on my blog today about our prem grandson. I popped by here to visit yours and am I glad I did. Wow, I've never seen anything like a tennis bubble tent before. I've added myself as a follower.

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  13. Amazing! you take beautiful photos.

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