The Centro Deportivo Las Eras was transformed from a mono-functional facility of the 1980s into a more than versatile sports centre of our time.

The new exten­sion is directly linked to its natural envi­ron­ment. The old facade evolves gene­ra­ting a second faceted skin that protects and charac­te­rizes the project.

The result is a frag­mented volume that gene­rates a new public space with its move­ment and revamps the old sports center’s image.

A trian­gu­lated geometry which mirrors its inner pearl towards the outside: a clim­bing wall for the town resi­dents, intrin­si­cally linked to the moun­tains.

The new facilities scheme is organized among two elements: “The Box” and “The stairs”.

“The box” is s a free­stan­ding volume with an indus­trial character divided in two diffe­rent levels and finished with oriented strand boards.

The ground floor­plan includes chan­ging rooms and two multi­pur­pose rooms; a 90sqm one and a bigger one, around 130sqm and over 12 meters long with fencing faci­li­ties.

The first floor consists of a 100sqm spin­ning room and a GYM with over 300sqm. There is also a cafe­teria, directly linked to the new urban outdoor space.

The main stair­case serves as a connec­tion between the old pavi­lion and the new exten­sion.

It’s atta­ched to the solid concrete wall of the old fronton court.  Some openings have been placed stra­te­gi­cally to act as “inte­rior windows”, allo­wing for a direct visual connec­tion between the new and the old thus, uniting the whole volume.

The climbing wall: a mountain symbol

Semi-buried and peeking towards the end of the corridor is the clim­bing wall. Desi­gned toge­ther with local clim­bers, it takes advan­tage of the old pavi­lion, using it as its main clim­bing support. The space loses height towards the boulder, thanks to a series of trian­gular tensioned trusses until it reaches its original human scale.

The project has been thought of taking into account its imme­diate urban surroun­dings too: its access and commu­ni­ca­tions. A new main access for the entire complex has been created, located in a slightly elevated square which is accessed through a comple­tely reno­vated prome­nade.

The mesh: a connecting element

The new program is protected and wrapped within a micro-perfo­rated skin that emerges from the exis­ting metal facade and evolves adap­ting itself to the geome­tries and inten­tions of the new project.

It’s a new shell that gives cohe­sion and unity to the entire complex. It acts both as a light filter towards the south and as a protec­tive shell, resistant to possible external impacts.

The chosen see-through mate­rial creates a trans­pa­rent volume where you can “see without being seen” from the inside; a living façade that dema­te­ria­lizes depen­ding on the time of the day.