christ’s hospital school: conversion from squash court to fives court

CONVERSION FROM SQUASH TO FIVES

This brand-new Rugby fives court at Christ's Hospital School, near Horsham, is a conversion from a squash court.
The final product is very beautiful (if I say so myself), with matte black walls and a terracotta floor, and means the school now has five Rugby fives courts. Master in charge Bart Callaghan wants one more.
As far as I know, this is the first time that a squash court has been converted into a fives court (although there have been reports of one in Birmingham).
Until now the traffic has all been the other way, with fives courts turning into squash courts (such as, I believe, at Wolverhampton Grammar School).
There are surely other squash courts which could be given the same treatment? It is an economical way of creating new fives courts - as the work of conversion is much less expensive than the creation of a whole new building.
A fives court is narrower and shorter than a squash court, so the Rugby fives court fits inside the squash court, so to speak.
A new side wall was built, and a new glass back wall installed, then the whole thing re-plastered with Armourcoat heavy duty render.
The wooden floor was ripped up and a new matte resin surface applied – it's the same as at Cambridge – and gives a good combination of grip and smoothness.
Christ's Hospital School consulted me on the feasibility of the plan, the best approach to use and quality of the court as it was being built. I introduced them to a firm which undertook and sub-contracted the work.

Eton fives courts have taller front walls than Rugby fives courts, so for this approach to work for the other code, the ceiling height is critical. If you're considering such a thing, the ceiling should preferably be about 7m from the ground, to allow for the step, the playing surface and a serving area above, at the serving angle.
Eton fives courts are 8m deep but also need a run-off at the back. A standard squash court is 9.75m deep, so you could at a pinch get away with an Eton fives court in a squash court but really you need to create more space at the back, as a 3m run-off is ideal. It is possible that back walls would have to be demolished to create more space. Often, these are interior walls and are not load-bearing, so this could well be feasible.

It occurs to me that fives courts can be installed in any large building, whether sports hall, garage, workshop, factory, barn ... it will probably be much easier and cheaper than starting from scratch with new foundations, side walls and roofs.
And less traditional – and more economical – building methods can be used if the court is sheltered from the elements.

Please let me know if you would like to discuss any such projects you might have in mind.
You can see other fives court construction and refurbishment projects I've undertaken here:
www.jprcourts.com

John Reynolds