Facility Planning Academy
Complete sports-facility planning workbook
How to use this workbook
Work through only the modules relevant to the project. Record confirmed decisions, unresolved questions and information still needed. The live Academy can save the same decisions into Your Facility Plan and My Apollo Project.
This is a planning workbook, not a construction drawing, professional design, accreditation or approval document.
Define the sport, users and operating model
Start with who will use the facility, how often, at what level and whether it is school, club, public, private, resort or commercial.
□ Which sports and user groups must the facility serve?
□ What intensity, operating hours and supervision model are expected?
□ Is the facility dedicated, shared-use or staged for future growth?
Read the site and establish the usable footprint
Separate the playing rectangle from run-off, circulation, access, storage, spectators and future expansion.
□ What is the actual clear site after setbacks and obstacles?
□ How will players, staff and spectators move through the facility?
□ What area should be protected for later expansion?
Understand the base and drainage
Confirm that the substrate, levels, cracking, moisture and water path are suitable before choosing the finished surface.
□ Is the base stable, hard, flat and suitable for the intended system?
□ Where does water go after it reaches the playing area?
□ What repairs or local civil works must happen first?
Choose the surface around the whole project
Compare surface families through sport, environment, drainage, maintenance, repair and operating model rather than one specification.
□ Indoor, outdoor, covered or temporary?
□ What playing response and comfort matter for the sport mix?
□ How will the surface be cleaned, repaired and replaced?
Plan lighting before poles and structures are fixed
Coordinate court geometry, glare, spill, mounting locations, maintenance access and operating hours.
□ What level of play and operating hours drive the lighting brief?
□ Where can poles or fixtures sit without affecting play or circulation?
□ Are neighbours, glare or spill-light constraints relevant?
Coordinate equipment, fencing and containment
Resolve nets, posts, dividers, gates and ball control before the finished layout is frozen.
□ Which equipment is permanent, removable or portable?
□ Where do gates, post sockets and barriers interact with run-off?
□ What storage or handling is needed for movable systems?
Decide whether the facility needs weather protection
Treat shade, canopies, air-supported structures and covered-sport pathways as part of the footprint, not a late add-on.
□ Which weather conditions are reducing usable hours?
□ What clear height and covered footprint are required?
□ How do structure, lighting, ventilation and local approvals interact?
Plan spectators, seating and venue infrastructure
Match seating type, capacity, circulation and weather protection to the actual venue model.
□ Who is watching and for how long?
□ Is seating permanent, retractable, portable or event-based?
□ How will circulation, egress and accessible positions be coordinated?
Design for access, inclusion and everyday circulation
Bring accessibility, safe movement, supervision and service access into the early facility layout.
□ Can users reach the playing and spectator areas without conflicts?
□ Are accessible routes and positions integrated rather than added later?
□ Can maintenance and emergency access occur without disrupting normal use?
Plan operations, storage and maintenance
Specify how the facility will be cleaned, repaired, stored, inspected and kept usable after opening.
□ Who owns day-to-day maintenance?
□ What spares, cleaning equipment and storage are needed?
□ Can damaged components or surface areas be repaired locally?
Coordinate sports technology and capture
Plan cameras, power, sightlines and data requirements before walls, poles and spectator zones are fixed.
□ What is the purpose: recording, streaming, coaching or scoring?
□ Where can a camera see the full playing area safely?
□ What power, network and mounting provisions are needed?
Turn the decisions into a project brief
Collect the site, dimensions, use, system preferences and unresolved questions into one brief for the next project stage.
□ Which decisions are confirmed and which still need specialist input?
□ What drawings, photos and measurements should accompany the brief?
□ What supply, local-work and approval responsibilities must be made explicit?
Facility Plan summary
Use this page to consolidate the project before moving into the Sports Project Brief.