Arteixo Sport Center

In a parcel with a regular and flat shape, with a river within its boundaries, stands the Arteixo Sport Center. To the North it faces the municipal pool, to the South is bounded with another parcel owned by the same Partial Plan. In West direction lies to the road known as “Travesia dos colexios” and this which provides access to the Sports cCenter. Finally the river sets the limits to the East.

At first sight, Arteixo appears as the clearly defined things do, denying some common places about oneself. Quick architectures which, despite all, stand the test of time.

The assigment of a unique building in a consolidated urban area, the configuration of the site, limits on the scope and the characteristics of a project, which use conforms their own position in the plan, leads us to a regular configuration without strindency to facilitate its operation.

The Sports Centers have an urban dimension relatively aggressive due to its scale. We propose a support area that wraps the main track to achieve the appropriate scale transition within the ambit.

Futhermore, these facilities are usually dark places, so we opt for a box beams structure in the longitudinal direction to the track, so that receives North light, optimal for the game, and South light nuanced through translucent polycarbonate in that box beams.

In another vein, following the path started long ago, Arteixo Sport Center arises as a rainbow, using this metaphor to explain the final result: the rainbow that amazes us, that comes and dazzles us with his presence and that leaves no one indifferent.

(Architecture is always designed for the users, which is the only possible way to reach its completion, its public use…  )Architectures is always designed for the user, which is the only possible way to reach its completion, its public use more domestic and why not, the always intrinsic illusions to the path laid out time ago, make the work ringworm of all colors.

The building stands on a concrete base that enhances the already lightweight facades; the color closing through the U-glass that surrounds it allows it to be visible during the day in a diffused way and nights throught some projectors indicating to the public when there are important events in the sports center, establishing beyond their own use directly relationship to the urban environment in which it sits.

The structure of the service área is concrete, the floors of prefabricated slabs and fencing, also a concrete wall with plasterboard cladding and insulation. The structure was solved by parallel trusses on steel columns HEB-300. The metal structure reveals further the intrinsic carácter of the work in this case subject to a universo where color has filled all space.

There have been many that over time have found in the rainbow a source of inspiration for their work. Remember to Raymond Queneau in Exercices of Style, 1947 or Terencio Formenti in his Poems book carried by the wind.