St. Stephen’s Tennis Center

The Tennis Center at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School was created to meet the need for excellence in both tennis and academics in a boarding school setting. Located within the school’s Athletics zone, the 12-court complex was carefully sited to make an efficient facility with a low visual profile from the rest of campus and with minimal disturbance to the native landscape.

Taking advantage of the hilly topography, the courts are arranged in pairs and clustered on naturally occurring terraces. Large boulders unearthed during excavation were repurposed to create naturalistic retaining walls at the court edges. Tiered seating made of quarried native limestone is built into the slope, providing informal spectator viewpoints and tucking the courts into the hillside, while extensive native plantings help integrate the facility into the surrounding landscape. The uppermost courts are also used for tournament play, capturing breezes and sweeping views of the Texas Hill Country from the spectator stands.