Ceramics for the Sports Hall Mediterranean Games by bb arquitectes and AIA

Project description by bb arquitectes

A sports Pavilion is built capable of hosting the main sporting activity of the Mediterranean Games 2018. The Palau d'Esports Catalunya, with capacity for 5000 people, presides over the Olympic ring of the Campclar area in Tarragona, inside a large Mediterranean park and in coexistence with the rest of the reference sports equipment in the city.

In the south facade of the building the habitual access takes place, from the vertebral axis that organizes the sports complex; This access will solve the daily operation. Exclusive access for major sporting events will be made from the north facade, closest to the city.

The topography of the immediate surroundings of the Palau is modified, thus appearing a semi-underground area that contains part of the functional program, and that softens the presence of the building. This topographic modification improves the thermal inertia of the whole and its energy efficiency, allowing Canadian wells to passively renew air and English patios that allow natural light to enter.

The building is solved in a single volume that develops basically on two levels. Its dimension is determined by the measurement of the central space, which will allow to house 3 tracks of 44x22m contiguously, providing significant flexibility in the daily use of the Pavilion. The space for the public, located on the same access floor, allows you to visually control the enclosure in a unified way and establish a permeable visual relationship with the environment. In the lower level are the changing rooms, administration spaces, press rooms, reception and control of athletes, warehouses and facilities. On the upper level are the public access spaces, services, catering, press room and authorities as fixed elements.

The tradition of the Roman Tarraco makes us think of ceramics as the main material, a material that will be the formal support of the building. Used in the floor plan, the facade and the roof, in its different versions, grant unity to the built complex.

The enclosure is raised with a double facade, as a sun protection; through corrugated sheet sandwich panels, cellular polycarbonate panels, and practicable window modules. In the outer plane, fixed ceramic slats, arranged according to the orientation and position in height, confer the image of the building and the necessary sun protection, avoiding the direct impact on the playing space. The ground floor is solved with carpentry, prioritizing transparency.

The roof finish is solved by 30x30cm ceramic pieces joined together forming large sheets, allowing a ventilated air chamber and a suitable adaptation to the geometry of the roof. In the central area there is a 12x48 meter skylight that allows the natural lighting of the tracks and their darkening; the geometry of the false ceiling and the screens located under it sift the light and improve the acoustics of the space.

The structure of the roof is raised with a bidirectional lightweight metal structure, formed by trusses 50 to 70m in length every 12 meters, with a slight curvature allowing the thickness of the section to be optimized and to minimize costs. The vertical structure is formed by shielded reinforced concrete pillars joined by rings, also of concrete, which absorb horizontal stress.