Centre d’athlétisme de LLN

Training for Tokyo

Centre d’athlétisme de LLN in Louvain-la-Neuve

BSW

Introduction

A world-class athle­tics hall will open in the tran­quil Belgian town of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve in May 2019: the “Centre d’athlétisme de LLN”, a trai­ning and compe­ti­tion faci­lity for elite athletes. However, thanks to its archi­tec­ture and inte­rior design, the hall is also suitable for school and recrea­tional sport – and even for comple­tely diffe­rent types of sport.

The faci­lity was planned by Atelier d’Ar­chi­tec­ture de Genval and Chabanne + Parten­aires. All sport surfaces are made from Regupol by BSW in Bad Berle­burg, Germany.

Architects

Atelier d’Ar­chi­tec­ture de Genval scrl
8 rue de la Sablière
B‑1332 Genval

Chabanne + Parten­aires
38 quai Pierre Scize
F‑69009 Lyon

Sports surfaces

BSW Berle­burger Schaum­stoff­werk GmbH
Am Hilgen­acker 24
D‑57319 Bad Berle­burg

Location

Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve (31,000 inha­bi­tants) is located in the centre of the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant.

Seven cities had applied for the loca­tion of this unique faci­lity. The geogra­phi­cally central loca­tion in Belgium and the excel­lent trans­port links in connec­tion with the Blocry sports centre finally turned the balance in favour of the Louvain-la-Neuve hamlet.

The Centre d’athlétisme de LLN provides the Blocry sports centre (opened in 1977) with a new focal point which will attract athletes far beyond the country’s borders. There are already inqui­ries from France and Qatar. The 10,000 m² sports hall is located next to the outdoor athle­tics faci­lity and turns the sports centre into a year-round venue for trai­ning and compe­ti­tion.

The “Blocry Sports Complex” also includes several sports halls, a fitness centre, two inflatable halls, two swim­ming pools, seven full-size foot­ball and hockey fields and the neces­sary outbuil­dings. The athle­tics faci­lity and one of the hockey fields have recently been refur­bished.

Address

Centre d’athlétisme de LLN
1348 Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve,
Belgium

Aerial view

Architecture and equipment

The faci­li­ties have both, special land­scape and special urban design features. To the north, the hall is adja­cent to a large nature reserve, while to the south it is connected by a pede­strian bridge with the Blocry sports centre. Visi­tors reach the foyer directly via this bridge.

The bright and open foyer creates visual contact between the visi­tors, the new hall and the outdoor athle­tics faci­lity. The inte­rior is largely glazed, so that the sporting acti­vi­ties are visible.

Faci­li­ties at the Centre d’ath­lé­tisme de LLN include

  • 200 metre circular track with six lanes
  • 60 m track with eight lanes
  • Two faci­li­ties each for all jumping disci­plines: long, triple and high jump and pole vault
  • 100 m trai­ning track with jump pit
  • Trai­ning faci­lity for shot put
  • 250 m warm-up track with four lanes
  • Gym
  • Outdoor trai­ning faci­lity for long jump
  • Storage rooms, anti-doping control rooms, physiotherapy,etc.
  • Cafe­teria over­loo­king the track

Feedback

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Use

Compe­ti­tive sport has prio­rity. Nevert­heless, the operator also intends to make the hall acces­sible to local athle­tics clubs, schools and courses.

Further­more, the Centre d’ath­lé­tisme de LLN is also open to other sports acti­vi­ties, such as judo and other martial arts on mats – or for badminton and table tennis. These sports will be performed in the centre of the hall. Depen­ding on the type of event, there are between 2,500 (athle­tics) and up to 5,000 spec­tator seats (if the inte­rior is used) on teles­copic stands.

A cate­ring area and offices, some of which are already leased, complete the project, addi­tio­nally contri­bu­ting to the profi­ta­bi­lity of the busi­ness.

Opening

2019

Photos

Alta­bene

Text

Running tracks

In November 2018, BSW started with the instal­la­tion of the track surface in the hall. The work was already completed by February.

The running track system Regupol AG was installed for the compe­ti­tion areas in the hall. This all-rounder already serves stadiums and halls around the world. Seam­less, quick and non-slip, it is equally suitable for elite sports and recrea­tional sports – making it ideal for the Centre d’ath­lé­tisme de LLN.

Another special feature: The six lanes are the widest that are approved accor­ding to the rules of the Inter­na­tional Athle­tics Fede­ra­tion (IAAF). By compa­rison: the lanes in the athle­tics hall in Ghent are 90 cm wide, here they are 110 cm. This provides athletes with considerable added comfort.

The 1,000 m² area for the long-jump outdoor trai­ning faci­lity was installed in-situ using a poly­ure­thane sprayed coating. This coating named Regupol PD has two advan­tages: the instal­la­tion takes less time and it is inex­pen­sive because it requires less effort than a wear layer of inters­persed EPDM granules.

The fitness room has an area of 450 m² and is equipped with an elastic, wear-resistant and non-slip ever­roll fitness floor.

Video

Outlook

Belgian top athletes such as Ismaël Debjani have already exten­si­vely tested the hall, and the tracks in parti­cular – and are thrilled. Debjani, the Borlée siblings and Nafi Thiam will use the Centre d’ath­lé­tisme de LLN to prepare for the 2020 Tokyo Olym­pics. Chris­tian Maigret, Tech­nical Director of the Belgian Athle­tics Asso­cia­tion (LBFA), even promises “incen­tives” for the medal table.

In any case, the faci­li­ties are a fine example of how successful archi­tec­ture and excel­lent equip­ment can lite­rally give a boost to sport and exer­cise.

Video

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About us

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Johannes Bühlbecker, founder

Johannes Bühl­be­cker is an archi­tect and has worked, among others, for Inter­na­tional Asso­cia­tion for Sports and Leisure Faci­li­ties (IAKS) for 15 years – as edito­rial director of the renowned trade maga­zine “sb”, in the orga­ni­sa­tion and reali­sa­tion of inter­na­tional archi­tec­tural compe­ti­tions with IOC and IPC, in trade fairs and conven­tions, as head of the “NRW Bera­tungs­stelle Sport­stätten“ (“NRW Advice Centre for Sports Faci­li­ties”) and as a lecturer at the German Sport Univer­sity Cologne.

  • Dipl.-Ing. (engi­nee­ring degree) Archi­tect, TU Berlin
  • Long­time edito­rial head with “sb”, an inter­na­tional journal for the archi­tec­ture of sports
  • Trai­ning in web design, online marke­ting, etc.
  • Inter­na­tional archi­tec­tural compe­ti­tions with IOC and IPC
  • Trade fair and congress orga­ni­sa­tion
  • Head of the “NRW Bera­tungs­stelle Sport­stätten“ (“NRW Advice Centre for Sports Venues”)
  • Lecturer at the German Sport Univer­sity Cologne
  • Plan­ning of the Prus­sian Stadium in Münster (for groß­mann engi­neers, Göttingen)
  • Replan­ning a foot­ball stadium in Berlin-Köpe­nick
  • Nume­rous publi­ca­tions, i.a. “From Round Leather to Soap Bubbles – The Deve­lo­p­ment of Foot­ball and its Archi­tec­ture”
  • Board member and youth coach at SV BW Weitmar 09

Contact

Phone

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Mail

contact@moresports.network

Address

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D‑44795 Bochum

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