Situation

The new Stade de la Tuilière is located in Nort­hern part of the city of Lausanne, at the point where the city’s dense urban fabric gives way to the more open coun­try­side.

The sports infra­struc­ture at the new “Centre sportif de la Tuilière” comprises nine foot­ball pitches, arranged in two rows, in addi­tion to an athle­tics faci­lity with a trai­ning centre. The stadium picks up on the idea of the slightly offset rectan­gular pitches, taking it even further. Posi­tioned at a slight angle to the trai­ning pitches, the stadium square is orchestrated to form the city-side entry point to the sports campus.

Four corners

Folding back the four corners of the stadium enables the design to be tail­ored to the confined space on the site. The inge­nious corner solu­tion permits a gene­rous free flow of visi­tors around the buil­ding at ground-floor level, linking the stadium square to its surroun­ding areas. At the same time, it creates a covered public space to serve as a go-between, recon­ci­ling the outside with the inside and the city with the foot­ball stadium. The corners simul­ta­neously serve as entrance areas, provi­ding initial glim­pses of the pitch and allo­wing the atmo­sphere in the stadium to be already savoured from the outside.

The folded back corners also lend the stadium the impres­sive, unmista­keable and even iconic look of a convex vessel, indi­ca­tive of its use and what lies within.

The pitch takes over

While the stadium boasts with a spec­ta­cular exte­rior and sple­ndid views from its inter­me­diate zone, the lines on the inside exude tran­quil­lity. It is the pitch and the prot­ago­nists acting on it that take over the drama­turgy here. Nothing which could cause distrac­tion was added, even the seating rows run hori­zon­tally round the corners.

The vomi­t­ories emer­ging from the inner shell blend into the picture almost comple­tely calm. Even the busi­ness and VIP zones are matched to the geometry of the seating. Ever­y­thing is in servi­tude to the stadi­um’s purpose: the game.

About

Slack­li­ning involves balan­cing on an appro­xi­m­ately five centi­metre-wide slack­line band that is stret­ched between two anchor points at knee height. This sporting trend is really popular because, in addi­tion to promo­ting balance, it also helps with concen­tra­tion and coor­di­na­tion. The problem up till now has been with the anchor points because considerable forces occur in the slack­line.

Thanks to the envi­ron­men­tally-friendly and cost-effec­tive stan­dar­di­s­a­tion of the compon­ents, slack­lines are now conquering our cities – as seating and sports equip­ment combined.

The driving force of the move­ment is BLOACS.

BLOACS

Behind the stan­dar­di­s­a­tion of slack­li­ning is BLOACS, a young and inno­va­tive provider of trend sports modules for exer­cise areas, based in Cologne. BLOACS brings complete slack­line systems to our urban envi­ron­ment: simple, safe and acces­sible to ever­yone.

These systems also include the anchor points for the slack­line. So, trees are not needed or damaged, and you don’t need foun­da­tions either. They are easy to set up, operate and main­tain.

The all-year-round usable SLACK-BLOACS are being deve­loped and updated all the time. For spring 2021, new systems with edge protec­tion, fresh colours for the surfaces of the concrete blocks and slack­lines in a variety of colours will be on the market.

Basic system

The basis of every system is the BLOACS foun­da­tion blocks which serve as a safe and perma­nent attach­ment option and at the same time as seating.

The basic system consists of two foun­da­tion blocks and the slack­line band. The foun­da­tion blocks measure 1.8 m x 0.6 m x 0.6 m (L x W x H). Each stone weighs 1.5 tonnes. The side surfaces (class 2 exposed concrete) are smooth and grey and the surface of the seat is non-slip. Each block has a shaft with an anchor point for the tensio­ning ratchet and edge protec­tion on the front edge. The tensio­ning ratchets with U‑lock prevent unaut­ho­rised access and unin­ten­tional adjus­t­ment of the tensio­ning system.

The slack­line cannot be cut and is flame retar­dant. This makes it vandal-proof and suitable for perma­nent use in public spaces. Slack­lines are available from 3 m to 6 m in length.

Details

The foun­da­tion blocks are made of high-quality concrete (C30/37, EC class 2 grey/smooth) and are bevelled on all sides. M16 threaded sleeves for scre­wing in lifting loops make it easy to attach a chain suspen­sion for setting up. Special tools such as precast grip­pers are not required. The anchor points are embedded in the BLOACS foun­da­tion blocks, meaning that they are protected from the weather.

The BLOACS slack­line is atta­ched by using a ratchet to the red, heavy-duty ring nut (anchor point) mounted on the front side. The ratchets are secured with a U‑lock against unaut­ho­rised access and unin­ten­tional adjus­t­ment. All metal parts are hot-dip galva­nised, powder-coated or made of stain­less steel.

The maximum cons­truc­tion height is 60 cm. Fall protec­tion measures are ther­e­fore not neces­sary.

Costs

The costs of this kind of system are plea­singly low and clearly calculable. €3,750 will buy you

• 2 BLOACS foun­da­tion blocks
• 1 BLOACS slack­line (3 m – 6 m)
• 2 ratchets with lock.

The side surfaces can have indi­vi­du­ally-desi­gned motifs or adver­ti­sing on them. For this, Dibond alumi­nium panels (1.8 m x 0.6 m) with a UV protec­tive coating are used. This extra is available from €125 per panel.

Situation

The Eco-Kindi kinder­garten in Vinh, near Hanoi, Vietnam, unfolds with three semicir­cular buil­dings over three levels linked by bridges gene­ra­ting a series of inter­con­nected indoor and outdoor spaces that are playful and safe while making an archi­tec­tural state­ment.

Eco-Kindi was desi­gned by LAVA with Module K and Viet Décor.

Education

Eco-Kindi is an educa­tion project for the future gene­ra­tion chal­lenges us to ques­tion the ways we teach and learn.

Rather than a sterile box with a teacher in front and kids in rows listening, LAVA created a lear­ning envi­ron­ment where disco­very, curio­sity, inter­ac­tion with nature and acti­vity-based lear­ning are encou­raged to promote child­ren’s holi­stic deve­lo­p­ment.

Windows

The buil­dings feature multiple circular cut out windows framed in bold primary colours and organic-shaped windows.

On the ground floor, they vary in height and size to reflect the needs of diffe­rent age groups.

Feng Shui

The archi­tec­tural concept for these outdoor spaces is the five elements accor­ding to Feng Shui – earth [sand­pits and earth mounds], water [water elements], fire [kitchen], metal [play­ground equip­ment] and wood [plants and trees, mini golf].

Physical deve­lo­p­ment is also nurtured through these indoor and outdoor play­grounds, a sports centre and a swim­ming pool promo­ting a healthy life­style. And crea­ti­vity too — with art classes, music room, library and master­chef kitchen. Ceilings feature fun flowing shapes and dino­saur-like ribbed surfaces.

The faci­li­ties and teaching equip­ment cater for 750 children.

Situation

There are more than 15,000 sports faci­li­ties in Chile, however, of the total of these, there is a high percen­tage (more than 30%) of courts in disuse, without main­ten­ance and prac­ti­cally destroyed. In a short time, these cons­truc­tions are trans­formed into a sort of urban and rural corpses devoid of the active care of insti­tu­tional agents.

The metro 21 project “De cancha en cancha” seeks to cover this lack that has left many loca­li­ties – espe­ci­ally rural – with one of the only commu­nity meeting places in ruins. Part of the project precisely seeks to publi­cize what is happe­ning at the local level.

Only art can help.

Surfaces

In general, the sport courts are cons­tructed of asphalt or concrete, which results in a hard and rough surface. These are surfaces that do not with­stand changes in tempe­ra­ture and tend to see your folders cracked over time.

Metro 21 try to take care of this problem by seeking to make them softer and more comfor­table to play, sit, jump, run and dance, thus respon­ding to a recrea­tional space at the service of the commu­nity.

Spektacle

The success of this ambi­tious project is not only due to the careful execu­tion of every detail of the refur­bish­ment work.

De Cancha en Cancha is known and popular because of the appar­ently spec­ta­cular surface design of the pitches. To this end, the plan­ners of Metro 21 have each worked on a project-by-project basis with local artists, who have sought the best design solu­tion for each situa­tion.