Wa-Karroong
Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative in Geelong has a new home. Wa-Karroong began as a conversation and got built by many hands, APC's among them.
Home / Capabilities / Permeable Basketball and Sports Courts
Permeable Basketball and Sports Courts.
For schools and clubs that need a court ready to play as soon as the rain clears.
Before you book
Check if permeable concrete suits your site
A few quick questions about your site. You get a straight answer about whether permeable concrete is the right call, including when it isn't, before anyone asks for your details.
Site check · 1 of 5
What are you surfacing?
Permcon™ is Australian made. Designed at our Mitcham factory, mixed with Boral Concrete and poured by our own crewsAbout our manufacturingA permeable basketball court is back in play when the shower stops
A wet court can cost a school its PE lesson, and for a club it often means the Tuesday training night is cancelled instead. On a sealed slab, rain has to travel sideways to a grate before the surface dries, and until it gets there somebody's out with a squeegee or everyone's waiting under the verandah.
Permcon doesn't hold the water. We pour the slab with 20 to 25 per cent voids, and rain drops through them at 8,000 to 10,000 mm/hr into the stone base under the court. The key stays clear of puddles, because the water goes down instead of across the lines.
Sports court concrete with strength and grip underfoot
The court is a 25+ MPa slab with a P4 slip rating.
Multi-code courts start on paper. We set the layout out with you before the pour, so the posts and run-off zones sit where every code you play needs them. The stone in the mix is 7 mm in Victoria and 10 mm in other states, and that's what gives the surface its open texture.
For a school or club with a stormwater condition
A new court on school or club land often comes with a council drainage condition. Poured permeable, it counts toward the site's permeable area where the council accepts it, and the base underneath is storage as well. It holds 28 litres a square metre for every 100 mm of clean screenings at 85 per cent design capacity. Heavy clay is slower. There we add an under-drain that lets the water out bit by bit. Give your engineer our technical data and we'll size the base to the condition.
Keeping it draining
Once a month, check that the court drains after rain and clear leaves and clippings before they settle into the surface. Sweep or hose it when it needs it. Once a year it gets a full sweep and a look for moss in the voids.
At home
Our residential paths and driveways cover the rest of the house.
Why choose Permcon™?
Play when the rain stopsThe court clears on its own, with no puddle sitting under the ring.
One slab, no jointsThe court is poured in one continuous piece, with no joints to sprout weeds along the baseline.
Helps with a drainage conditionThe stone base under the court stores stormwater, which a school or club can put toward its council drainage condition.
A monthly walk, an annual sweepA monthly walk to clear leaves and grit, and once a year a full sweep and a check for moss in the voids.
How a job runs
- Site visitWe look at the soil, the falls, where the water goes now and the heaviest vehicle that will use it. That sets the thickness.
- BaseClean screenings go under the slab, with filter cloth, and an under drain where the ground needs help moving water.
- PourOur own crews place it, up to 500 m² in a day.
- AfterOnce a month, check it's clear of leaves, that it drains after rain and that no sediment is building up. That's most of the maintenance.
Permeable Basketball and Sports Courts gallery
What schools and clubs ask us
Can the grounds ute or a ride-on mower cross the court?
Yes. It's the same concrete we pour under driveways and car parks, so a ute or a mower is ordinary traffic. If a truck needs to cross to reach the oval, tell us at the site visit and we'll pour that strip thicker.
Can the build fit around the school term or the footy season?
One crew places 500 m² a day. Give us your term dates or fixture list at the first visit and we'll plan the pour around them.
Does the court need a drainage pit or a pipe to the street?
Where the ground takes water, the base holds a storm and lets it soak away, with no pipe to the street. On tight soil, or where council wants a controlled outflow, the under-drain described above runs to the stormwater connection. We work out which on the site visit.
What warranty comes with a court?
A 10-year structural warranty, terms and conditions applying. If the slab fails structurally, we assess it on site and replace that section. Looked after on the monthly and yearly routine, it has a design life in excess of 30 years.
Is the court playable straight after rain?
Usually, yes. Water drops through the permeable concrete at 8,000 to 10,000 mm/hr into the base underneath, which means nobody's out there with a squeegee and no run-off is sheeting across the court to a drain at the edge.
What finishes can a sports court have over a permeable base?
We have a standard detail for synthetic turf laid over 100 mm of Permcon, so turf is an option; so are modular tiles. Or play on the slab itself: plain grey, charcoal, soapstone or sandstone, P4 slip rating. Anything that seals the surface stops rain getting through it, so tell us at design stage rather than rolling it on later.
Can netball and basketball lines go on the same slab?
They can, along with futsal and volleyball. Getting it right is a job for before the pour: the cross-coded layout is set out first, with the posts placed to suit.
Will someone have to core drill for the net posts?
No. The sleeves are cast in as the slab is poured, and the net and hoop posts drop into them once it's cured. The slab stays whole around every footing, and each post sits exactly where the line marking expects.
Does a home court get the same build as a club court?
It does. A home court gets the same 25+ MPa Permcon and the same designed base as a school or council court. We will work with anyone that wants the Permcon product; we just need to make a design that suits their needs. Because the court drains through itself, it can count toward your block's permeable area where council accepts it.
Play on the slab, or build a surface over it
Permcon comes in plain grey, charcoal, soapstone and sandstone.
The slab also makes a drained base for synthetic turf or a sports surface laid to its maker's specification. Rain passes through the top layer and the concrete together. There's more court work in our news and on our projects page. Pick the top surface before we pour. The base underneath is designed around whichever surface goes on top.
Recent court and club work
Early Learning Centre, Warwick
A council job in Warwick: light-coloured Ultracon poured around an Early Learning Centre's existing cubby houses, sandstone blocks and garden beds to make a permeable play area.
Permcon Garage Driveway
A grey Permcon driveway runs up to a brown garage door, with a mulched garden bed and timber posts along the side.
Driveway for Residential Units
Ferns and red-leaved planting mark the bend where this dark grey Ultracon driveway curves past shared garages, its edges softened by garden beds.
Housing Unit Car Park
Wheel stops in yellow and black, bays marked in white, a wide aisle: a dark grey Ultracon permeable car park for housing units in front of black-and-white-clad townhouses.
Residential Driveway Project
Split down the middle by a black timber fence, two plain grey permeable parking pads front a contemporary home and finish at garden beds on each side.
Tell us your term dates or fixture list
Our own crews pour every Permcon court, with teams in every state. Tell us which codes you play and when you need it finished, and we'll come out and look at the site.