Sports Centre Buchholz, Uster, Switzerland



Awarded the prestigious Swiss Prix Fédéraux des Beaux-Arts, the German Bauweltpreis, the Gold Award 2000 of the International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities as well as the International Design Awards of the American Institute of Architects European chapter, the Buchholz Sports centre was built following a successful architectural design competition and complements the Sports Complex of Buchholz in the town of Uster.

brief: The client’s brief required a cost-efficient 3-field Sportshall, designed to international standards with seating for 1,000 spectators. A high quality of architecture was demanded from the new building within the masterplan for the designated sport facilities area.

result: The Sportshall is the result of an integral concept and design process. Each element is multifunctional. This allowed costs to be minimised by reducing the number of elements, which in turn facilitated clarity and simplicity in the architecture. The result is optimal orientation, which makes the Sportshall user-friendly for spectators and athletes alike.



concept:
structure - The completed Sportshall has been described as "a hall of light". The slender steel structure is clad on all sides with glass (north/south transparent,
east/west translucent) through which light floods the interior, even on cloudy days. At
night the building changes appearance and projects its internal activities to the outside world. The translucent facade glows in the dark, guiding visitors to the sports centre.

user-friendliness - This is based on the principle of optimising daylight and providing a
clearly structured building, allowing for maximum orientation. Overall harmony is
achieved through a subtle choice of materials and colour.

environment - The concept of the building allowed the integration of the following
ecological aspects: The building is naturally ventilated through air-vents in the facade.
While the interior bathes in natural light, use of additional artificial lighting is controlled through a daylight-monitoring system, which automatically regulates each
light fitting to an optimum pre-set level. Due to a good U-Value of the light-diffusing
special glazing, the level of heat loss for the entire building is considerably below
stringent Swiss building regulation requirements. The Sportshall was built without a
basement to avoid disturbing ground water levels and a planted roof replaces foliage
from the ground occupied by the building. Rainwater is retained by the earth-covered
roof and re-enters the natural cycle through evaporation.



Execution:
The manageable size of the project enabled the architects to take on responsibility for the quantity surveying as well as site management. This guaranteed a highly successful transition from the first concept to the final construction.

Sports Centre Bucholz: text authorised by Camenzind Evolution Architecture 040907



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Bucholz Sports Centre architects : CamenzindEvolution

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Sports Centre Bucholz - page : adrian welch / isabelle lomholt