How much did it cost to build the Centre Court roof?
The roof's ten trusses each weigh 100 tonnes, with a total weight of 3,000 tonnes including non-moving sections. When completely deployed, the roof has a total area of 5,200 m2. The club has not announced the cost of the roof, although it is thought to be between PS80 and PS100 million. The roof was designed by architect Zaha Hadid and constructed by Carillion. It was presented to the public for the first time on 23 May 2005. Before this date, only Club members had been allowed onto the roof due to safety precautions needed when moving such a heavy object. It replaced an earlier roof which had been built for the 1995 World Championships in Athletics. That roof remained in place after the Centre Court building was completed in 1998 because it was considered important for major events like these to have a unique roof above them. However, over time elements of that original roof began to deteriorate due to weather conditions. In addition, visitors were able to go beyond the edge of the court during presentations of the world tennis number one ranking list, which upset some members of the tennis community. The new roof was designed to avoid these problems by being less noticeable when not in use and allowing more people access to the court than before. It also provides better protection from rain and wind damage. In preparation for the new roof, parts of the old one were removed during the summer of 2004.