topotek1: heerenschürli sports facility, zurich

heerenschürli sports facility, zurich all images courtesy topotek1

the heerenschürli sports facility is one of the largest in zurich,  located between a nature reserve, a highway crossing, residential housing and large scale industrial buildings. german firm topotek1 have been commissioned to restructure the facility to cater to the changing and expanding demands of sports and leisure activities. a compact, extremely popular sporting world with twelve football fields and one for baseball are integrated with three buildings: an ice-rink, a locker-room building and a workshop. the playing fields are all surrounded by high fences, giving the sports arena its architectural status and urban poignancy. the fences form diverse spatial sequences mediated along a simple path layout. the determinant connecting function of the orthogonal path axes is interwoven and connected with the spatial and functional core of the complex over a series of rows of trees, avenues and accent-setting groves. the overlapping transparency of the fences creates a visual dynamism which is further amplified by the materials used in their construction: the two-ply, wire-mesh walls in various green tones produce a moiré effect which makes the overlapping of the various spatial layers a part of the mise-en-scene of the relationship between athletes and spectators.

the beams being sprayed

beams ready for assembly