Not Just Upgrading, But Placemaking
Lisa & Douglas Goldman Tennis Center goes above and beyond to serve the community
By Jennifer Devlin-Herbert and Marc L’Italien
Photos: Cesar Rubio
With a prime location in Golden Gate Park, there is no tennis center quite like the Lisa & Douglas Goldman Tennis Center (GTC) in the city and county of San Francisco. Designed by EHDD, with early design input from HGA, the GTC continues the city’s long legacy and tradition of tennis in the park that started in the late-19th century. Over the years, the park’s courts have become known as the Cradle of Champions. Billie Jean King, Alice Marble, and Rosie Casals played there, not to mention the many locals and students who have enjoyed the courts over the years. Today, the GTC is not just a space for tennis players, but a hub for the community at-large, welcoming each week more than 2,500 people who span all ages and levels of court experience.
The development of the GTC was spurred by the local tennis community—organized as the Tennis Coalition SF—united by their love of the sport and shared experience of playing in the park. The group’s initial objectives were to rebuild the aging courts, update the clubhouse, and optimize potential playing time with new court lighting. However, with the support of a public-private partnership between the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department and the San Francisco Parks Alliance that partnered with Tennis Coalition SF, citizens took the opportunity to create a world-class facility, not only capable of hosting high-level competitive play, but also one that prioritized inclusivity and accessibility.
Gathering Input
It was critical for the project team to build consensus among these varied stakeholder groups on the goals for the new space. Furthermore, they sought an overall vision for the GTC. This meant engaging all parties as early as possible, including contractors, third-party operators, and the general public. As such, the design process began with extensive workshops targeting neighbors, park advocates, tennis players, pickleball players, table-tennis players, and the communities served by the Tennis & Learning Center (TLC), a nonprofit under the recreation and parks department that facilitates year-round youth and adult programming.
During these workshops, participants provided input for the design team and client prompts, and engaged in discussions of court layout, park context, user experience, and more. The project team quickly learned that not only did the design need to cater to tennis students and enthusiasts, but also had to meet the needs of those who rely on the center for table tennis, pickleball, community and event space, and much more. This valuable information helped shape the final design, which included more space for programming and integration of enhanced equipment, while also improving visibility, accessibility, and flexibility as compared to the previous space.
Strategically Placed Amenities
The result is a new, approximately four-acre complex, comprising 16 United States Tennis Association (USTA) regulation courts, including a sunken, stadium-style court, in addition to five multi-use mini-courts for mini-tennis, family play, and pickleball. The lighted courts are supported by amenities such as spectator viewing areas and mobile bleachers. Surrounding pathways and site stairs were also added, extended, and repaired to better integrate the project into the site.
Central to the GTC is the 7,800-square-foot Taube Family Clubhouse, a vibrant community hub that serves as the main-site access for the center and gateway to the game of tennis. Key spaces within the clubhouse include a community lounge, covered viewing terrace, recreation room, and comprehensive tennis pro-shop alongside supporting spaces, including a dedicated reception area, administrative offices, a conference room, locker rooms and showers, and a community kitchen. The Koret Teaching and Learning Center is an integral component of the clubhouse as well, complete with its own entrance, classroom space, separate kitchen, and access to both the recreation room and Koret Garden.
The design and placement of the clubhouse and courts highlight the sport by creating a “reveal” moment when visitors walk through the entrance gateway. Immediately, they are immersed in the game of tennis by looking onto the sunken tournament court and are surrounded by accents that nod to the sport throughout the clubhouse. Even the clubhouse’s positioning caters to the courts, as it was designed to serve as a break against San Francisco’s perpetual wind and fog. Simultaneously, the clubhouse’s profile casts a minimal shadow on the courts, and its placement never blocks the morning sunlight so the damp courts can quickly dry. New court lighting also allows the community to enjoy an additional 20,000 hours of play annually.
Monetarily Speaking
The GTC is an important example of how a public-private partnership can successfully fund similar community-serving projects. Alignment with stakeholders is key to this success and includes managing budget expectations while considering any potential escalation. Based on feedback from the public, the courts and supporting spaces were the priority, so the civil and site work were substantial in both labor and costs. The project team also navigated costs associated with coordinating with the city’s parks department on landscape deferred maintenance in contrast with longer-term capital priorities.
Furthermore, the project team coordinated with a citywide infrastructure-enhancement project that likely impacted costs; however, the GTC now serves as the first project to connect to San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s Westside Enhanced Water Recycling Project, a municipal, recycled, water-supply system that reduces the use of potable water for non-drinking purposes. This system will go online in early 2022 and eliminates the use of potable water at the GTC for irrigation and the intensive water use of court-washing. In collaboration with Sherwood Engineers as the civil engineer, the team incorporated an infiltration gallery into the project that mitigates stormwater runoff from the sizable, impermeable footprint of the tennis courts.
Building in San Francisco is more costly to begin with, and between the fundraising window, as well as the complex approvals and entitlements required to build in a prime corner of an urban national park, the project experienced exceptional cost fluctuation—a nearly 100-percent escalation during the period between the end of design and the start of construction.
In the end, the Tennis Coalition SF’s goal was not simply one of upgrading, but one of placemaking, maximizing the center’s setting to create an extraordinary public space for San Francisco residents. By employing a collaborative approach that ensured all stakeholders’ voices were heard, the coalition and the integrated design team were able to successfully fulfill residents’ needs and wants. Although the project was mainly privately funded, the GTC is resolutely public—owned by the city and accessible to all—a gift to the city from the Tennis Coalition SF and its donors.
Jennifer Devlin-Herbert, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C, is a partner and design principal at EHDD. Reach her at J.Devlin@ehdd.com.
Marc L’Italien, FAIA, DBIA, LEED AP, is a design principal and practice leader at HGA. Reach him at MLItalien@hga.com.
Sidebar: Taking Notice
In 2021, the American Institute of Architects, California (AIA CA) recognized the GTC as a part of its Design Award Recipients—a list honoring a broad range of innovative design. The revitalized center was honored with the Leading Edge Award in the prestigious state awards program.