Sportcampus Zuiderpark – a €50 million sports park designed to promote a healthier society in The Hague, Netherlands. Completed by British design studio Faulkner Browns Architects, the green-roofed recreational facility draws the eye with its copper-hued steel ribbon that changes color throughout the day and its sensitive approach to human scale.
The 33,000-square-meter Sportcampus Zuiderpark comprises a gymnastics hall, beach sports hall, spectator area, a multipurpose sports hall, as well as a variety of sports science and education spaces. The green lung, the Zuiderpark, has a new heart. In deference to its historic surroundings, the sports complex takes on an ovoid shape that the architects creates the perception that the building’s edges are retreating into the distance, minimising its visual scale.
The largest interior spaces were placed in the rear of the building so that the building height at the front could be reduced to provide a more comfortable human scale. Textured precast concrete panels make up the plinth on the ground level, while wraparound glazing on the upper level is partly shielded by a striking metallic ribbon. Near the entrance, the swooping roof opens up to frame a small courtyard. Three-quarters of the roof is covered in heat-regulating sedum, solar panels, and solar water heaters. Geothermal energy is used in the heating and cooling system.
