Lisa & Douglas Goldman Tennis Center at Golden Gate Park

Community Hub Makes Tennis Accessible to All

Situated prominently within the verdant landscape of San Francisco’s famed Golden Gate Park, the Lisa & Douglas Goldman Tennis Center (GTC) serves the city’s diverse population of tennis players—from students to enthusiasts and beyond. Designed by EHDD with early design input from HGA, the GTC celebrates and displays a new era of tennis in the public park.

Central to the GTC is the 7,800-square-foot Taube Family Clubhouse, a vibrant community hub that serves as the main site access for the center and gateway to the game of tennis. Key spaces within the clubhouse include a community lounge, covered viewing terrace, recreation room and comprehensive tennis pro-shop alongside supporting spaces including a dedicated reception area, administrative offices, a conference room, locker rooms and showers and a community kitchen. The Koret Teaching and Learning Center is an integral component of the clubhouse, complete with its own entrance, classroom space, separate kitchen and access to both the recreation room and Koret Garden.

The more than four-acre complex comprises 16 United States Tennis Association (USTA) regulation courts, including a sunken stadium-style court, in addition to five multi-use mini courts (for mini tennis, family play and pickleball). The lighted courts are supported by amenities such as spectator viewing areas and mobile bleachers. Surrounding pathways and site stairs were also added, extended, and repaired to better integrate the project into the site while providing additional viewing spaces.

Starting in 2022, GTC will use a municipal recycled water supply system that reduces the use of potable water for non-drinking purposes. The building was designed to be naturally ventilated and daylit for much of the time it’s occupied, enhancing the wellbeing of occupants while reducing energy costs.  As a public building designed to last 100 years, the materials were selected for their durability and to express a natural, local character.

Year-round youth and adult programming—hosted by Tennis Coalition SF and San Francisco Recreation and Park Department’s Tennis & Learning Center (TLC) nonprofit—activate the center on a daily basis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, not only did the center at large provide a safe venue for exercise and recreation in a sport that allows for physical distancing, it also immediately became a site for remote learning. Using the classroom, multi-purpose recreation room space and garden, the program supported students most in need.