WIN4 Sports Centre

WIN4 Sports Centre in Winterthur is located beside the existing Deutweg ice arena. Catering for both mass and top-level sport, this new project is intended to have an impact far beyond the city of Winterthur. On this account we aimed for a kind of architecture that translates these national and international ambitions into a memorable architectural language.

An ensemble of distinctively different building volumes defines a sequence of shared outdoor spaces. The first phase consists of a new building for the ball sports arena, and an adjoining campus building. Sports wing 2, built in the second phase, completes the ensemble. The three buildings are connected by a central covered foyer area. The strategy of using three independent buildings allows a clear urban statement to be made as early as the first stage. The third phase of the multi-function training hall augments the ensemble in the south, where it defines the limits of the ensemble towards the existing, extensive sports pitches of the neighbouring sports park. In the fourth phase, the campus will be expanded with a triple sports hall, classrooms and accommodations for athletes. A future fifth phase attached to the southern end of the fourth phase might consist of an indoor swimming pool for school swimming classes.

The large ball sports arena, which swivels outwards to the south, is the home arena for the handball players of Pfadi Winterthur, the floorball club HC Rychenberg and other local sports associations. The heart of the arena is a central pitch, surrounded by raised spectator stands that provide space for up to 2000 spectators. All the necessary ancillary spaces such as changing rooms, press rooms etc. are accommodated at entrance level. Staircases positioned at the sides bring visitors up to the first-floor level. There, from the generously dimensioned surrounding circulation terrace, they can access the stands, refreshment areas, the VIP lounge, and the sanitary facilities. Underground garages in the basement of the ball sports arena and the triple sports hall offers 254 parking spaces.

The neighbouring five and six-storey campus building and sports wing 2 house a variety of sports functions, all of which are reached from a centrally positioned staircase. Sports medicine, fitness area with integrated wellness facility, offices, coworking area and a sports school with classrooms augment the functions of the sports cluster. The multi-functional training hall is a ‘decorated shed’ that relates visually to the buildings of the first phase in the north, while at the same time taking account of the existing district centre to the south. The outdoor spaces around the new sports centre consist of an arrivals area with an urban character, a landscaped district park, and the large lawns of the sports pitches. With its public pathways the new sports park has an additional value for the neighbouring residential districts as a place to spend leisure time.