Sports 03
Basketball Court Design
A basketball court is 28 by 15 metres. The building around it is decided by three other numbers — the obstruction-free surround, the clear height above the court, and how many courts you intend to run at once — none of which appear on a court marking drawing.
Indoor basketball halls · multi-court training facilities · school and university courts · outdoor and community courts · 3x3 half-court facilities · arena concepts with spectator provision. Concept design, planning and 3D visualisation.
FIBA sets the playing court at 28 m by 15 m, with an obstruction-free zone of 2 m around it and a minimum clear height in the order of 7 m — confirm the current figures for the competition level you intend to host. The surround is not decoration: players leave the court under momentum, and a court built tight to a wall produces exactly one outcome. Clear height is measured to the lowest thing above the court, not to the roof — the duct, the truss, the luminaire — and in a shared hall the most demanding sport in the building sets it for every court.
Multi-court halls are where the planning gets interesting. Courts laid side by side share the space between them, and that space serves both games at once. Overlapping markings let one hall run a full-size game or three cross-courts for training and junior sessions — a decision that roughly triples the hall’s usable capacity for the cost of paint and divider nets, provided the structure and clear height were planned for it. Divider nets need a mounting point and a motor position, both of which belong in the section from the start.
Backboard support is structure, not equipment. Ceiling-suspended goals need load paths designed in; wall-mounted goals need a wall in the right place; floor units need storage space when they are not in use. Glazing behind the baseline puts light directly in a shooter’s eyes and makes the court unusable for part of the day — daylight belongs high and to the sides. Artificial lighting is judged on uniformity and on whether a luminaire ever appears in a player’s field of view, which is a mounting decision, not a fitting decision.
Outdoors, orientation carries the same logic as glazing indoors: a north–south axis keeps low sun out of the shooters’ eyes at both ends. Add surface drainage falls that do not affect the bounce, a fence line set beyond the run-off rather than on it, seating and shade for the people waiting to play, and lighting if the court is meant to be used after work — which, in India, is when most of it will be used.
School and community — one court, modest surround, simple lighting. Training and academy — multi-court hall, overlapping markings, storage, changing capacity for concurrent batches. Competition — full surround and clear height to standard, scorer’s and officials’ provision, team benches, media and spectator seating. Arena — capacity drives structure and egress; the court becomes the small part of the project.
Site and hall envelope test · court layout and multi-court strategy · section study for clear height and services · daylight and lighting strategy · ancillary schedule · conceptual architecture · 3D visualisation and boards.
Planning an Indoor Sports Hall: Clear Height, Run-Off and Court Spacing
Sports Facility Planning
What size is a basketball court?
FIBA sets the playing court at 28 m by 15 m, with an obstruction-free zone around it and a minimum clear height. Take the surround and height figures for your competition level from the current rules — the surround is not decoration, because players leave the court under momentum.
What clear height does an indoor basketball court need?
FIBA sets a minimum in the order of 7 m, measured to the lowest obstruction above the court rather than to the roof. In a shared hall, badminton usually demands more, and the most demanding sport in the building sets the section for every court in it.
Can one hall hold several basketball courts?
Yes, and it is usually the better answer. Overlapping markings let one hall run a full-size game or several cross-courts for training and junior sessions — roughly tripling usable capacity for the cost of paint and divider nets, provided the structure, clear height and net mounting were planned for it from the start.
Indoor or outdoor?
Outdoor courts cost far less and lose time to weather and heat; indoor courts cost more and are usable every day. For outdoor courts, orientation carries the same logic that glazing does indoors — a north–south axis keeps low sun out of the shooters' eyes at both ends.
Confidential Capability
Detailed Design & Technical Documentation — developed for selected client engagements and kept strictly confidential. Working drawings and client-specific technical documents are never published online.