Cranbrook Schools New Tennis Complex Wins American Sports Builders Association Top Outdoor Tennis Award for 2022

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Michigan (December 13, 2022) – The American Sports Builders Association (ASBA), the national organization for builders and suppliers of materials for athletic facilities, has announced the winners of its annual awards with GMB Architecture + Engineering (GMB) winning the outdoor tennis facility of the year honor. Cranbrook Schools’ new tennis complex was recognized as the top tennis facility at the 2022 ASBA Technical Meeting on December 5^th in Palm Desert, CA.

Cranbrook’s new facility consists of eight, post-tensioned concrete outdoor courts with a 10-foot-high, elevated viewing concourse between the rows of tennis courts, as well as a 450-square-foot team room and restroom facility. The high-end professional courts on Cranbrook’s campus enable student athletes to have a facility to match their level of competition. 

“The tennis complex began with the vision to equip Cranbrook with an extraordinary space for student athletes; the impact of that space, both beautiful and functional at the highest level, is palpable – in the way we can develop players, welcome spectators, support competition and celebrate tennis as a life-long sport,” said Aimeclaire Roche, President of Cranbrook Educational Community. “We are so fortunate to have the confidence of the philanthropic leaders who made this complex a reality, and to know the expertise of GMB architects, who planned and scaled the facility to compliment elegantly Cranbrook’s historic campus.”

“At GMB, we share a common goal with our clients to place students and their success at the heart of every project, and this facility is a testament to that goal,” said Matt Heidloff, landscape architect at GMB. “The landscape of the complex is the primary unifying feature for the programs and spaces throughout, it really unifies the overall fabric of the campus.”

This is the third time that a GMB project has been awarded a project of the year honor by the ASBA. Previous projects recognized for this honor include the William Clay Ford Courts at the University of Michigan (2018) and the VandePoel-Heeringa Stadium Courts at Hope College (2013). GMB has also received 20 distinguished awards from ASBA for other athletic facility projects in the past eleven years.

“It is a spectacular tennis facility that catches your attention from the moment you first see it. It is a first-class facility for our tennis players to train and compete on,” added Cranbrook Schools Director of Athletics, Keith Levinthal. “As a fan, you can easily keep tabs on all eight courts with excellent sightlines. When it comes to hosting major events, there is no better place.” 

Awards are presented each year to facilities built by ASBA members, which best exemplify excellence in sports facility design and construction, as well as an understanding of the technical requirements and current professional standards for athletics facilities. Projects are scored individually based on considerations such as layout and design, site work, drainage, base construction, surface, amenities, innovation, and overall impression. 

About GMB

Opportunity for all. That’s the world GMB strives to see. Our integrated team of educational planners, architects and engineers are just one part of the learning ecosystem that will make that happen. GMB believes education provides transformational opportunities for our communities, industries and our world. GMB is evolving our business to foster a culture of continual learning inside and outside our organization.

As a learning organization structured for ideation, innovation, and sharing of knowledge, GMB’s hubs of experts in Grand Rapids, Holland and Royal Oak, Michigan, and Indianapolis, Indiana, design and engineer projects throughout North America.

Whether in a building or a park, in a course or a career, we believe it takes an ecosystem of people, companies, communities and ideas to foster learning opportunities for students of all ages. We believe that by investing in our future and creating learning ecosystems, we can provide opportunity for all. Learn more at www.gmb.com.

Cranbrook Schools

Cranbrook Schools, located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, is a comprehensive, college-preparatory learning environment, comprised of Brookside (Pre-K through grade 5), Cranbrook Kingswood Girls Middle School and Boys Middle School (grades 6 through 8) and Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School (grades 9 through 12 with day and boarding programs).

Cranbrook Schools is a part of Cranbrook Educational Community; a 501(c)3 non-profit whose National Historic Landmark campus also includes Cranbrook Academy of Art, Cranbrook Art Museum, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research, Cranbrook House & Gardens, Cranbrook Institute of Science, and other affiliated cultural and educational programs.

To learn more about Cranbrook Schools, please visit https://schools.cranbrook.edu/.