The Girardota’s Metropolitan Coliseum Competition winners were announced. First Prize goes to the team of Juan Sebastián Larrota, Felipe Robayo, Sebastián Gaviria, AlcuboArquitectos (Alejandro Martínez, Marcela Marulanda) and G-Arquitectura (Juan David García, Natalia Mejía). More images and architect’s description after the break.
First prize winner of the public architecture competition for the design of the Metropolitan Coliseum in Girardota, Antioquia. The project is part of a group of buildings promoted by the AMVA in order to foment education, sport and recreation throughout the different municipalities outside the borders of Medellín. The coliseum is located on Girardota´s sport complex and forms part of a group of sport facilities that complement the different sport and recreational activities.
The project´s program can be divided in three different groups: 1. Sport areas, which includes the two central basketball courts, each one with its own tribune, a gym and a chess y ping pong room. 2. Complementary spaces, which includes all the areas required for the proper function of the building, like bathrooms, changing rooms and cellars. 3. Administrative spaces, which are all the offices required for the numerous coaches of the sport complex and the administrators of the coliseum.
The design process started by trying to make the building, the main attraction of the sport complex. The main objective was to make the coliseum the center of all the sports and recreational activities of the complex. The way to make this possible was through an urban gesture strong enough to attract the people from all Medellin´s metropolitan area. With the creation of a public plaza on the roof of the building, the building could be not only a sport facility but also a recreational space where big shows and concert can take place. Using the topography of the site, the building manages to create an urban connection through the roof, turning it into an extension of the public space of the sports complex.
The building´s functionality divides in two main zones, one that is mainly the sports areas, including the basketball courts and tribunes, and a second zone concentrating all the administrative spaces of the program. This functional scheme makes possible the coexistence of the two types of activities and users, without interfering between them.
In the interior of the project, the aim was to create flexible spaces that allow the transformation, mutation and adaption of the space according to the different activities that can take place. Using retractable seats, for the tribunes, the basketball courts can be modified by increasing or decreasing its size, allowing the development of different activities besides basketball, such as inside football, volleyball or also recreational activities such us concerts or mass.
The project´s facades respond basically to the requirements of the program inside of each space. The sports zone is covered with semi-translucent metal panels that controls the entrance of the natural light at the same time that maximizes the entrance of natural ventilation. The administrative zone is mainly a concrete box with vertical slots that allows the controlled ventilation and illumination of the offices.
Architects: Juan Sebastián Larrota, Felipe Robayo, Sebastián Gaviria, AlcuboArquitectos (Alejandro Martínez, Marcela Marulanda), G-Arquitectura (Juan David García, Natalia Mejía)
Location: Girardota, Medellín´s metropolitan area, Colombia
Client: Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá
Project year: 2012
Renders: Sebastián Gaviria, Felipe Robayo, Juan Sebastián Larrota