Designed by UAD, Comprehensive Gymnasium is located at the core of the sports area on the north side of Haining International Campus of Zhejiang University. It covers an area of 9211.98 square meters and has a total construction area of 14,785.07 square meters. It contains an indoor standard swimming pool, a standard basketball hall and a comprehensive training hall consisting of badminton, squash and table tennis training rooms, etc. The building consists of a pavilion in the south and the other pavilion in the north. Such two parts are connected with a semi-outdoor tennis court covered with a steel-wood membrane structure and an outdoor spectator stand facing a 400-meter track and field on the east side. The three parts are combined into a small sports complex through large steps and large platforms.
Photography by © Qiang Zhao
The design pursues a simple principle of “forms following function” and fully reflects the original concept of “sports warehouse”. The design takes into account planning relationship around the building, gives consideration to main flow of people from the south, possibility of students’ various clubs and sports activities, and compatibility of the east side with the standard gymnasium, the basketball court’s stands and space, trying to create efficient indoor space, provide an interesting and inclusive outdoor venue and present a reasonable and convenient flow of people.
The semi-outdoor tennis court is designed to supplement the shortcomings of the outdoor tennis courts that cannot be used on rainy days. The upper covered steel-wood membrane structure spans 45.6 meters and is a multi-frame and two-way arch structure. The structure is light and original, and the architectural form is novel and beautiful.
Photography by © Qiang Zhao
Among them, the large-span steel-wood structure is designed to combine of strength and beauty of sports architectures, while drainage measures and edge-receiving nodes of the membrane and the arched steel-wood structure reflects high degree of cooperation and coordination among architects, structure specialists, membrane structure manufacturers and on-site construction personnel. They completed the relevant node design without revealing the traces and presented the design pursuit of fulfilling architectural beauty through structure.
The connecting platform on the west side of the track and field as well as the simple steel membrane structure shed covering the stands have become a good place for students to gather after school or take a rest, and are widely welcomed by teachers and students.
Photography by © Qiang Zhao
The inner courtyard enclosed by the gymnasium, tennis courts and the stands of the track and field create a vibrant and multi-purpose “inner sports street” and a courtyard, providing more possibilities for students’ extracurricular activities.
Since its inception in 2017, the comprehensive gymnasium has been used with good feedback. With flexible space and staggered platforms, it is suitable for students’ various indoor and outdoor activities. The flexible layout of training rooms is greatly beneficial to combination of various modes and purposes of physical education and changes in project layout, providing a model for richness and internationalization of physical education in institutions of higher learning.
At the beginning of the design, it was proposed to combine generality of the “sports warehouse” and the str
Photography by © Qiang Zhao
ucture that the sports building needs to express. The two boxes in the north and the south designed on the principle of simple and efficient space combination adopt the red simple brick tone of the entire campus, but replace bricks with earthenware bricks of the same color. Windows are simple and modern, and further remove cumbersome decorative art, present gradually enhanced modern style along the inner ring of the campus and explain overall design concept of “harmony but difference”.
It’s the designer’s intention to create relative cultural connections and visual connections for the same campus based on different planning blocks and different functional characteristics. The Comprehensive Gymnasium is obviously integrated into the campus and very distinctive.
Photography by © Qiang Zhao
Project Info:
Architects: UAD
Location: China
Area: 14785.07 m²
Year: 2017
Photographs: Qiang Zhao
Project Name: Comprehensive Gymnasium of International Campus Zhejiang University
