Pop-up padel lands lakeside at Canada Water
Play padel at Canada Water
London’s newest padel centre opens tomorrow (May 7th) with four outdoor floodlit courts installed over the Bank Holiday weekend in the city’s Docklands.
Instantpadel at Canada Waters is a collaboration between Swedish companies Instantcourts (the name behind the hugely successful Instantpadel mobile padel court system) and booking platform Padel Mates. On the ground operator is Pop Up Partners, also headed by a Swede.
The polycarbonate and mesh pop-up courts – open 8am to 6pm on weekends and 7am to 10pm weekdays – have been installed on part of the Surrey Quays shopping centre car park adjacent Canada Water lake and just a minute’s walk from Canada Water tube station. It’s an easy-to-reach location next to the ground-breaking Corner Corner, a huge building housing food outlets, cultural events, live music and its own indoor ‘vertical farm’ which supplies eateries in the building.
Padel court hire prices start at £36 for 60 minutes off-peak, rising to £50 peak. All bookings are through the Padel Mates website and app.
Christoffer Granfelt, co-founder & CEO of Instantcourts, told The Bandeja: “This is an amazing opportunity to onboard new players to the game while creating the perfect social spot for Londoners.
“Teaming up with Padel Mates was a no-brainer – they have a strong presence in the UK and share our mission of making padel more accessible, social and fun. Pop Up Partners has a strong focus on short term padel activation in unused spaces.”
This is an amazing opportunity to onboard new players to the game while creating the perfect social spot for Londoners.
- Christoffer Granfelt, co-founder & CEO of Instantcourts
The Bandeja popped down to Canada Water to take a sneak peak at the under-construction courts.
For Padel Mates the high profile project may mark its resurgence in the UK, having lost ground to Matchi and Playtomic. It’s now working with Swedish operator Rocket Padel, which has multi-court centres in Bristol, Battersea, Ilford and Beckton, and Advantage Padel, which has plans for a number of centres having opened indoor courts in Hampshire. Its app is also proving popular with players setting up their own groups and organisations running leagues.
Padel Mates co-founder Daniel Dawood said of the Canada Water scheme: “This project checks every box for us – growing the game and connecting people through padel. This is just the beginning and we’re here to support the UK community every step of the way.”
The partnership comes after Instantpadel’s successful 2024 run in London, with more than 24 courts activated across the city, including major sites such as Battersea Park. Recognising the huge growth of padel in the UK and the barriers posed by gaining planning permission, the two organisations began discussions on how to overcome these challenges through agile, short-term urban activations.
Christoffer added: “When you do a proper inventory of what’s available [land and space] there are incredible sites sitting unused just because they’re hard to access short-term. Instantpadel is built exactly for this. We make it possible to activate those spaces quickly, without the red tape.”
“Together with Instantpadel courts, Padel Mates booking system and Pop Up Partners we have a great and flexible set up for pop up solutions.”
Canada Water, situated in the London Borough of Southwark, is a key regeneration zone undergoing a £5 billion transformation led by British Land. With excellent transport links (Jubilee Line, London Overground and a bus hub), a growing community and a focus on green, social infrastructure, Instantcourts believe it is the ideal location for this ‘next-generation sports activation’.
The courts occupy a ‘meanwhile site’ (vacant or underutilised premises, sites or spaces used on a temporary basis) forming part of the Canada Water Masterplan. In February British Land applied for planning permission for the courts for three years on behalf of Rocket Padel. Permission was granted on April 1st but Rocket appears to have stepped back from the scheme.
Christoffer told The Bandeja: “The idea came about earlier this year when Rocket decided to drop the project and since our courts don’t require major groundwork and less need for extensive permits it made us the perfect option for this project.”
Instantcourts now has more than 30 active courts in UK and overall more than 200 installations in 20 countries. As well as Battersea Park, it has installed courts in Crystal Palace and at Babington House in Somerset. One of its first – and most high profile – projects was an indoor court at Westfield London shopping centre. 🎾
