Ulsteinvik is a small town on the west coast of Norway, which for several centuries developed exclusively as a center for shipbuilding. The city is also known as the birthplace of the football club Hedd, one of the most successful in the country. In the 21st century, Ulsteinvik is undergoing a large-scale reconstruction: a number of shipyards are being rebuilt for social and cultural functions, and the former port area has been turned into a promenade. On the axis of the main pedestrian boulevard, numerous transverse directions are "strung" - alleys, small landscaped squares and chamber squares. And it was on this boulevard that a plot was allocated for the construction of a new complex, under the roof of which it is planned to combine several sports at once.
However, Lund & Slotto went further and in addition to the pool and gyms, the complex also included a youth club and a library. According to the architects, these functions, which are not directly related to sports, but are interesting to young people, will help the new facility to join the active social life of the city as soon as possible.
The site intended for the construction of the complex has a rather significant drop in relief, which the architects skillfully played. The sports center is partially dug into the slope, and parking is located in the resulting underground levels. The stylobate part of the complex follows the logic of the relief and actually develops on two levels, forming a picturesque "fold". In the place of the “bend”, the architects green the roof of the stylobate and turn it into an open playground. Pedestrians can also use this "gap" between the two buildings of the sports center in order to move to a street parallel to the boulevard without going around the building as a whole.
The Lund & Slotto project envisages panoramic glazing of most of the sports and public areas of the complex and greening of the roofs of both buildings. In addition, in the decoration of the facades, it is planned to use sheets of Corten steel, the rusty velvety structure of which, according to the architects' plan, perfectly emphasizes the continuity of generations, recalling the shipbuilding past of the built-up area. And in the interior decoration, the authors of the project propose to use local wood and light concrete.
A. M.
