By Codelia Mantsebo
After boasting of tennis court high up in the air built atop the 1,000-foot-tall Burj al Arab hotel, plans for the world’s first underwater tennis court in Dubai were revealed in April last year. Today, Kotala has revealed the project has eyed potential US investors to turn this project into a reality while he works on the final designs for the concept.
In April last year, Polish architect Krzysztof Kotala made global headlines when he unveiled initial designs of the Underwater Dubai Tennis Center. According to Kotala, plans for this venture are set to move a step closer to reality as he confirmed he was in talks with US investors. He also confirmed he is currently working on the final designs for the concept.
Kotala had proposed to build an underwater tennis complex located offshore in the Persian Gulf, between the Burj al Arab and the Palm Jumeirah islands. The initial proposal involved seven courts, each with rooftop coral reef designed to build an illusion of a natural atoll, located near the famous Burj al Arab hotel.
Designed with a massive curved roof, the undersea complex will also double up as an aquarium with a rooftop coral reef, which will display sea life for spectators as well as players. Once constructed, the glass covered court will add up to Dubai’s remarkable record-breaking shoreline.
“This will be something original. This should be somewhere where there is the tradition of tennis. Dubai is perfect for this idea,” Kotala said in April 2015, referring to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, which has been staged in the Emirate since 1993.