Sports Hall for Cycling and Athletics

The proposed design of the sports hall, located between the swimming stadium beyond the Lužánky park and the Bobycentrum hotel, lies on the only accessible pedestrian path passing through the green belt from Lužánky to Planýrka. On a broader scale, this belt can be seen as a green wedge of the Soběšice forests, touching the very city centre of Brno. Although this part of the urban landscape is not yet fully integrated, our project builds on the more than eighty-year-old vision of making it accessible and seeks to develop the significant potential of the site.

This context led to the idea of a subtle pavilion, freely set among the surrounding greenery. The morphology of the sports facilities responds to the natural relief – the cycling oval organically fits into the terrain hollow and is covered by a lightweight wooden structure. This creates a hybrid entity – the sports fields become the landscape and the landscape becomes the sports field. The delicate pavilion blurs the boundaries between sport and nature and forms a welcoming “gateway” connecting the Lužánky Park with the newly formed Planýrka recreation area.

The volumetric arrangement of the hall builds on the logical layout of the programme. The ground floor is an open, free-flowing space designed exclusively for the audience. This concept ensures maximum visual contact with the events happening in the hall, thanks to which even a casual passer-by can become an active observer. Most of the functional units – changing rooms, training areas and other support areas – are concentrated in a volume adjacent to the central area. A compact block with administrative facilities, accommodation and space for the Institute of Sports Medicine then “levitates” above the stands.

The structure of the roof is a reinterpretation of the modernist vision of Oplatek’s neighbouring swimming stadium. The hall is consciously positioned so that the monumental corner of the pool stands out, while the form of the roof structure, reflecting the action of internal forces, refers to Lederer’s characteristically curved truss structure.

The relationship of the building to its surroundings is further reinforced by the accentuation of the individual corners and a well conceived landscape concept. The overhang of the rectangular roof over the oval mass creates covered outdoor spaces, always composed with respect to the context of the site. This results in a covered amphitheatre, an engaging entrance corner or a covered stand adjacent to the neighbouring football stadium. This way, the building actively interacts with its environment and becomes a natural, integral part of the site.

Velodrome

credits

project: Sports Hall for Cycling and Athletics
location: Brno
year: 2025
status: competition, 2nd place
together with: AgwA
team: Daniel Struhařík, Georgi Dimitrov, Héléne Joos,
Natálie Hodková, Simon Fischer, Dries Huysman,
Ali Ismail, Ondřej Machač, Radim Koutný, Radek
Zabloudil, Tereza Čamborová, Harold Fallon, Benoit
Vandebulcke, Benoit Burquel, Nicky Vancaudenberg
investor: the City of Brno
images: willbe studio
photos: Václav Novák
topics: landscape of sports fields, pavilion in the greenery,
permeable public space, historical research, reinterpretation
of modernist vision, working with model