guzman de yarza blache: elevated sports court in zaragoza

‘elevated sports court at lasalle franciscanas school’ by guzman de yarza blache, zaragoza, spainimage © miguel de guzmanall images courtesy of miguel de guzman

school courtyards are often times used for school-hour recreation space, extra-curricular activities, and gathering spaces where parents leave theirchildren in the morning and pick them up at night. the result is an overlap of activity that requires quite different spatial organizations, and often timesthe demand of the program for one function is encroached upon by another. architect guzman de yarza blache of local practice J1 arquitectos wasgiven the prompt to increase the usable area of the 33 meter by 35 meter courtyard of the lasalle franciscanas school in zaragoza to accommodatethe influx of parents without disturbing the daily sports and leisure activities. the solution is brilliantly simple: elevate the multi-use sports courtoff of the ground, creating a usable shelf maintaining a permeability for the flow of circulation. as an educational institution is rather busy for 9 to 10 months of the year, the entire structure had to be built during the summer months, which meant that the structure had to be erected in a relatively short amount of time with minimally invasive site work. a prefabricated concrete base became the most logical choice:  symmetrically-placed pillarshold up two longitudinal wide flange beams that support the court itself. a double skin metal cage system that curves inwards at the top keeps kidsand equipment in the floating arena during playtime. two removed trees originally on site are replaced by 300 different species of ivy growing outof 70-meter long corten steel planter around the perimeter of the metal envelope, eventually covering the court in vegetation within a few years.‘the whale’ – dubbed by the students – contains a ramp on either side of the structure connecting it to the courtyard and school building. beneath the construct, strips of bright colors are painted on the ground to mark the infantile play area and create a jovial ambiance for visitors andstudents as they enter the premises, with a rounded seating area hosts a variety of plants for people to sit and wait for their children to come out.

walking through ‘the whale’video © imagensubliminal

view from the wing of the buildingimage © miguel de guzman

elevation, entrance under the structureimage © miguel de guzman

image © miguel de guzman

plenty of space on the courtyard ground with added court elevated aboveimage © miguel de guzman

ramps connecting the school, courtyard, and sports structureimage © miguel de guzman

metal ramps weave over the infant play areaimage © miguel de guzman

prefabricated concrete structure was erected in a few daysimage © miguel de guzman

space under the courtimage © miguel de guzman

(left) tree columns support the ramps without taking up space(right) seating area with incorporated plantsimage © miguel de guzman

view towards the schoolimage © miguel de guzman

entrance to the caged courtimage © miguel de guzman

image © miguel de guzman

image © miguel de guzman

image © miguel de guzman

site plan

floor plan / level 0

floor plan / level 1

roof plan

section

section

elevation

elevation

elevation

elevation

exploded axonometric

project info:

name of the work: elevated sports court at lasalle franciscanas schoolname of the studio: guzmán de yarza blache, arquitect / J1 arquitectosfinishing date: september 2012location: calle andrés piquer 5, zaragoza.spainclient: lasalle franciscanas schoolbuilt surface: 350 m2budget: 290.000 eurosconstruction: gm empresa constructoraarchitect: guzmán de yarza blacheproject architect: guzmán de yarza blachesurvey of construction works: guzmán de yarza blachecollaborators: ana guzmán malpica, julien luengo-gómezquantity surveyor: jose manuel arguedasstructure: josep agustí de ciurana, prainsa