Dubai had plans to build world’s first underwater tennis court costing $2.5 billion
- Once upon a time, Dubai wanted to build a $2.5 billion underwater tennis court
- It was to be constructed right next to the ultra-luxurious Burj Al Arab hotel
- Here’s what happened to the audacious plan
Published on Apr 22, 2024 at 5:28 PM (UTC+4)
by Adam Gray
Last updated on Apr 24, 2024 at 2:49 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
There’s no such thing as extraordinary in Dubai.
From a gigantic 4,000-foot glass pyramid city with no cars, to underwater suites in ultra-luxurious hotels, it’s a city of many world firsts.
However, plans for the world’s first underwater tennis court back in 2015 sadly never came to fruition.
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8+8 Concept Studio’s Krzysztof Kotala envisioned a groundbreaking idea of an underwater tennis complex.
According to Forbes, the complex was to be situated offshore in the Persian Gulf, between the Burj Al Arab and the Palm Jumeirah islands in Dubai.
As well as housing an incredible variety of fish and marine animals, the complex would boast seven tennis courts with a distracting rooftop coral reef.
The part-aquarium, part-sports complex was said to cost $2.5 billion nearly a decade ago.
However, the monumental cost of constructing the tennis complex wasn’t the only hurdle that prevented Kotala’s dream from becoming a reality.
There were obvious concerns like leakage, in addition to ensuring the structure could withstand earthquakes and tsunamis.
With a sizable portion of water and aquatic animals hovering above, there was the complexity of light refraction, too.
Then there was the task of managing to create a stupendous piece of glass that would cover the roof and withstand the water weight.
All in all, these challenges prevented the project from even getting beyond the concept stage.
“There is not an investor but I would like to get interest as I think it is a good idea,” Kotala told Arabian Business in April 2015.
Apparently, the Polish designer even started a website to raise investor awareness, however, it’s now offline.
Plans died down and in spite of Kotala divulging that he was in talks with investors in the United States, nothing took shape.
In other Dubai-related news, an architect wants to build a 550-meter-high ‘Downtown Circle’ around the Burj Khalifa, whilst the city also has plans to construct a $5 billion Moon-shaped resort.
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Adam Gray is an experienced freelance motoring journalist and content creator based in the United Kingdom. Using his media accreditation with manufacturers’ press offices, Adam test drives the latest cars and attends new vehicle press launches, producing written reviews and news pieces for a variety of lifestyle and business publications. Here at Supercar Blondie, Adam applies his journalistic skills penning social-first content around current news and trends. When he’s not behind the wheel of the latest car or writing up another viral story, Adam can be found at his local rink playing ice hockey or at the Riverside Stadium supporting his beloved Middlesbrough FC.
