GLUCK+

Tennis center with two volumes: one stone-clad, the other glass-clad, both under an angular roof.
Close-up of a woman serving a tennis ball in front of a gray and glass building, with two people watching from above.
A man sitting, gazing towards the entrance of the gray and glass building, viewed from the angle of a rock.
Bird's eye view of tennis courts and a triangular building at the center of Crotona Park in the Bronx.
A gray and glass building framed by trees, with tall grass in the foreground.
A tennis player jumping to hit the ball, viewed over a girl's shoulder.
People playing tennis in a sunken court, surrounded by bleachers, with the gray building overlooking the scene.
Overhead shot of existing tennis courts with people playing next to sunken courts.
Overview of people playing tennis in the sunken courts, with a gray and glass building in the background.
Kids sitting and learning in the study lounge on the court level.
Competitive tennis match between two women in the sunken court, with bleachers full of spectators.

Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning

A community hub hidden in plain sight

The Bronx, NY

Hidden in plain sight within the 127.5-acre public Crotona Park, the Cary Leeds Center is the flagship home of New York Junior Tennis & Learning—the largest nonprofit youth tennis and education program in the United States—where underserved children receive free tennis lessons and academic enrichment programs. Resulting from a public-private partnership between NYJTL and NYC Parks, the Center hosts local, national, and international tournaments and serves as a community hub for the South Bronx. The venue is designed as a series of platforms, both physical and metaphorical, for viewing tennis and encouraging after-school learning.

Institutional 67,830 sf Completed in 2017 Architect-Led Design Build

Stories

A gray and glass building framed by trees, with tall grass in the foreground.

Burying a building in the park

What is a park? According to Frederick Law Olmsted: a sense of enlarged freedom. In essence, a relief from buildings.
Burying a building in the park
Close-up view of drilling head.

Smart drilling: gravity at work

Our primary concern was to ensure that the sunken exhibition courts and the clubhouse wouldn’t flood during a rainy day.
Smart drilling: gravity at work
Simplified diagram of the locker box, roof, patio and tennis court shape and relation to one another.

Triangles, triangles, triangles

Cladding the clubhouse's ceiling presented a particularly complex challenge due to its irregular shape.
Triangles, triangles, triangles
Construction progress image of concrete being stressed.

Lasting compression

Post-tensioned concrete guarantees minimal maintenance and ensures a longer lifespan for tennis courts.
Lasting compression
Collage of construction images while placing precast platform.

Precast platforms

Public park, public courts, clubhouse, and stadium-exhibition courts—connecting the project's four milieus.
Precast platforms

Press & Recognition

The New York TimesApril 28, 2017

“One of the city’s best new works of public architecture.”

—Michael Kimmelman

“Outstanding tennis facilities like the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning… help us to grow the game at the grassroots level, and we are proud to recognize them for their ongoing impact on the sport of tennis. The great work continues to support our shared mission of growing tennis to inspire healthier people and communities everywhere.”

—Theodore Loehrke, Managing Director, Section Partnerships, USTA

2024

USTA Outstanding Facility Award

2020

Design Award of Excellence

Society of American Registered Architects

2017

Honorable Mention

The American Architecture Prize

2012

Award for Excellence in Design

NYC Public Design Comission

 

Tennis ChannelOctober 29, 2017

The NYJTL’s Cary Leeds Center is a player venue and community resource

—Jon Levey

Photographs

Bird's eye view of tennis courts and a triangular building at the center of Crotona Park in the Bronx.
A gray and glass building framed by trees, with tall grass in the foreground.
A man sitting, gazing towards the entrance of the gray and glass building, viewed from the angle of a rock.
People playing tennis in a sunken court, surrounded by bleachers, with the gray building overlooking the scene.
Daytime view of balcony leading to a gray and glass building, overlooking the tennis courts.
Angled view of the triangular roof with the "Cary Leeds Center for Tennis and Learning" name, overlooking the balcony and tennis courts.
Night time view of balcony leading to a gray and glass building, overlooking the tennis courts.
Overview of people playing tennis in the sunken courts, with a gray and glass building in the background.
Close-up of a woman serving a tennis ball in front of a gray and glass building, with two people watching from above.
View of the balcony with a gray building behind, featuring a sign that reads, "Billie Jean King Clubhouse of the WSF."
Tennis center with two volumes: one stone-clad, the other glass-clad, both under an angular roof.
Overhead shot of existing tennis courts with people playing next to sunken courts.
Overhead shot of sunken courts in front of a triangular building, with two rows of courts beside it.
Two people playing tennis in the sunken court, with spectators watching from the bleachers.
A group of kids running tennis drills on the turf beneath the balcony.
Render of the front elevation of the gray and glass building, with people walking around.
Close-up of two women playing tennis competitively, with surrounding bleachers filled with spectators.
Close-up of a woman hitting the ball, with spectators in the stands and the viewing bridge labeled "Victor Kiam's Stadium Court One."
Tennis class for small children taking place on one of the sunken courts.
A tennis player jumping to hit the ball, viewed over a girl's shoulder.
Competitive tennis match between two women in the sunken court, with bleachers full of spectators.
Group of kids racing on the viewing path between two tennis courts.
Aerial view of the new tennis center, featuring sunken courts and four sets of tennis courts—two grass and two clay.
Kids sitting and learning in the study lounge on the court level.
Close-up of stairs in the court-level study lounge, with colorful balls filling the space underneath.
Public lounge on the park level with people sitting, accented by circular pendant lighting above the stairs.
Close-up of a boy exiting through the building entrance, with green graphics on the walls.

Drawings

Site plan of the new center, sunken courts, and existing courts, relative to Crotona Avenue and Indian Lake.
Floor plan of the park level of the new center.
Floor plan of the court level of the new center.
Section of the new center and sunken courts with the caption: "Section: Create lower precinct for educational programming."
Program diagram of the park level of the new center.
Program diagram of the court level of the new center.
Program diagram of the roof level of the new center.
Two section diagrams comparing the typical relationship between the clubhouse and its courts to the new center. First diagram caption: "Clubhouse, bleachers and courts on grade. Park and tennis are separate experiences." Second diagram caption: "Buried clubhouse, sunken courts. Tennis is integrated within the park."
Diagram illustrating the different activities within the main programs: the state-of-the-art-tennis-venue and the education and community center.
Exploded axonometric drawing of the new tennis center and its sunken courts, seperated by court level, park level and roof level.
Simplified exploded axonometric highlighting different viewing conditions, categorized by distance to the tennis courts.
Exploded axonometric of the construction of the viewing bridges above the bleachers.
Diagram showing the project timeline split into phases, with the responsible party for each phase indicated.
Four sets of iterative models that helped in finalizing the design.
Type
Institutional
Size
67,830 sf
Year
2017
Scope
Ground Up
Role
Architect-Led Design Build
LocationLoc.
Urban
 
1720 Crotona Avenue, Bronx, NY 10457
Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning
Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning