Seven Basketball Courts That Score Design Points

A Dezeen roundup highlights seven basketball courts worldwide that integrate design beyond the game, including flood mitigation, cultural references, and portability. The courts range from a multi-use games area in London renovated by POOR Collective with graphics inspired by neighboring tower blocks, to an underground court at the ALMA Observatory in Chile framed by glulam trusses and heated by geothermal energy. In Suzhou, China, SoBA Architects designed the Huachiao Vibrant Sports Park with paths inspired by Kunqu opera water sleeves, leading to pastel-colored courts. The Idaho Central Credit Union Arena by Opsis Architecture features mass timber construction, departing from typical concrete arenas. Eric Treillard's 'The City Is A Playground' kit allows temporary courts anywhere, with a hoop, ball, lights, and speaker on a wheeled cart. In New York, artist Na Chainkua Reindorf designed the Tompkins Square Park courts for Glossier, in collaboration with the WNBA and NYC Parks Department. Finally, Grain Collective's Water Square in Queens serves as a pilot for the city's Cloudburst program, with courts over drainage basins holding hundreds of thousands of gallons of floodwater. The roundup was published on Dezeen on August 22, 2026.