TARRAGONA

The Tarragona Sports Centre is planned in a privileged area of Tarragona, in a site where important areas are converging with different characters. Av. Principat d’Andorra, one of the main access for traffic, Av.President Lluís Companys, leading passers-by to the sea, or Pl. Imperial Tarraco, an already existing and dynamic square, meet in the plot, which becomes central. Despite this, the current distribution of the site is that of a part of the city that has grown by building addition, without planning. The site itself then is a result of the empty space left by its neighbours.

After an initial contact with the site, the architect does not foresee building a new volume filling the space left in the conglomerate. Instead, he thinks it is fundamental to keep it, as the empty space is already there. This requires gathering the functional programme in a building underground while releasing the area above the ground, which ultimately becomes a square defined by the surrounding streets.

The resulting empty space becomes the main reason of the proposal. The sports facility functional programme is developed in two high underground levels, while the ground floor becomes a public square connecting the city. A couple of smaller buildings appear in the square. They provide the complex underground with the necessary access and an additional functional area for singular parts of the programme: administration, fitness and wellness. They also become the façade of the building, organic glazed volumes which rise on the corners of the plot defining the square area, and directing the flows over the surface.

The sports programme below includes swimming pools, multi-sport fields and all the services associated. Large courtyards are providing the building with illumination and ventilation, as well as with additional fire escapes. Direct connections with the buildings above the ground allow the different parts of the building to work as a whole, whether they are above or below the ground.