SWIMMING HALL CHRAST, ZILINA

Faculty of Architecture and Design STU in Bratislava

Project idea

The main idea of the unconventional architectural-constructional design is based on the modern theory of biophilic design, which draws inspiration from the free nature and applies them in a human-centric way, bringing natural, original, unexpected, enriching, stimulating and healing experiences and specific atmospheres to the interior.

Project description

The municipal swimming hall is designed with a focus on meeting the needs of a wide range of occupancy, therefore emphasis is placed on universality, barrier-free access, multisensory experience, safety, etc. The design applies natural materials and progressive construction methods and proposes adaptation solutions in the context of climate change.

The building is a part of a planned sports and recreation area. The plot area is located in the city Žilina, near the Solinky residential area and in direct connection with the Chrasť forest park, outside the built-up area. The urban concept, operational relations and functional content of the building are based on the investor's requirements and the results of the urban-landscape competition of the given locality, announced and evaluated by the city of Žilina in 2022.

Technical information

The building consists of three main structural units. The organically shaped roof of the pool hall is formed by a curved reinforced concrete grid, the segments of which reach a height of 1.5 m and a thickness of 0.4 m. The distance between nodes of individual segments does not exceed 7 m. The total span of the arched structure reaches max. 48 m, but it is not only self-supported - in the central part it is supported by volumes of "cubes". The grid dimensions are derived by an approximate static calculation and the structure could be optimized by an accurate static model.
The cubes themselves are the second main architectural and structural part of the building. The walls of the cubes are built using the technology of rammed clay (this materiality is also manifested in its raw form in the interior) in combination with reinforced concrete skeleton. The thickness of the walls of the cubes is derived from the selected material - it starts at 400 mm.
The third part of the structure is the reinforced concrete foundation structure - the building is based on a reinforced concrete slab. In the basement and underground garage, a standard module of reinforced concrete construction with hidden beams - 8100x8100 mm is applied.

Documentation

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