Behind the Scenes: Building the HSBC Championships at Queen's Club

While spectators focus on the world-class tennis on display at the HSBC Championships, a huge construction project takes place behind the scenes each year to transform Queen's Club into one of the UK's premier sporting venues.

The tournament has a rich history dating back to 1881, when it was first established as the London Athletic Club Open Tournament in Fulham before moving to Queen's Club in 1890. Today, the championships are regarded as one of the most prestigious grass-court events in the world and a key warm-up tournament ahead of Wimbledon.

Months before the first serve is struck, contractors begin installing temporary grandstands, hospitality suites, broadcast facilities, security infrastructure and spectator areas. Every element must be carefully planned to maximise capacity while ensuring the highest standards of safety and accessibility.

The tournament welcomes up to 17,000 spectators per day across the Queen's Club grounds, while the iconic Andy Murray Arena seats almost 9,000 fans. Creating and supporting this temporary infrastructure requires extensive planning, engineering and logistical coordination.

The temporary structures are designed to withstand thousands of visitors each day, requiring detailed calculations for crowd movement, loading requirements, emergency access and weather conditions. Teams work to tight deadlines, coordinating deliveries and construction activities around the club's existing facilities and world-famous grass courts.

From grandstands and hospitality villages to television compounds and fan zones, the scale of the operation resembles a major construction project in its own right. Once the tournament concludes, much of the temporary infrastructure is dismantled and removed, leaving little evidence of the extensive build that supported the event.

The HSBC Championships showcase the remarkable level of planning, engineering and construction expertise required to create a world-class sporting venue that exists for only a few weeks each year, demonstrating how construction plays a vital role in delivering one of Britain's most historic sporting events.