Schulz und Schulz

Description

A three-field sports hall is a hall made of three identical areas. In this project we turned this incontrovertible fact into our overarching design concept. The new build replaces an old 1930s sports hall that was destroyed by fire. The new triple-field sports hall rises above the adjoining changing-rooms and ancillary facilities, which are accommodated in a single-storey block. The glazed corridor running in front of the changing rooms and ancillary areas offers passers-by a lively «shop window» view of the building, while the taller sports hall itself is broken up by three arched windows. The arched windows allow light into the sports hall on both of its long elevations. Inside, the load-bearing structure features the same curved shape as the windows. Instead of one interior space extending throughout the building, the sports hall – which is almost always partitioned by the curtains that hang between the arched beams – is divided into three separate sections. The curved beams are underspanned with steel tie rods and suspended in the main beams that run between the arched windows, creating the sequence of three identical sections that gives the space its character. The three thermal windows are the only openings in the closed brick facade. They are framed by brick arches, the shear forces of which are countered by the in situ concrete tension band.