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Architects: Alejandro Dumay, Patricio Schmidt
- Area: 2070 m²
- Year: 2013
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Photographs:Aryeh Kornfeld
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Manufacturers: Fundermax, Cerámica Santiago, Infodema, Pizarreño, Volcan
Text description provided by the architects. The building is part of a complex which englobes the Dunalastair School (Colegio Dunalastair), located in the Community of Peñalolén, which is characterized for being a traditional, slightly urbanized rural area.
The working plan consists in designing/developing a building dedicated mainly to indoors sport activities but also suitable for cultural events such as concerts and stage plays.The whole project, totaling an extension of 2070 m2,will consider a multi activity field with bleachers for 300 spectators, dressing rooms, storage rooms plus an infirmary.
The gymnasium will be built in a piece of land with a 7% slope which, considering the size of the construction, will result in a considerable difference in level. For this reason, it has been decided to sink the construction to certain extend so as to minimize the volumetric impact in relation with the surrounding landscape.
The building consists of 2 concrete volumes (invested with bricks) at each end, making up the most hermetic space of the structure, holding the stage, toilets and storage rooms at one enf, and the dressing rooms at the other end. A more light structure in between, holding the playground and bleachers, is totally accessible from the school.
One of the main objectives is to allow natural light to infiltrate in all the premises, thus reducing to a minimum the energy consumption. This has been accomplished by different ceiling levels, using metal trusses 2 meter high by 28 meter in length as dormers. The resulting geometry of this structure improves the acoustic of the space and, at the same time, provides a greater spatial amplitude.
Due to the multiple purpose uses of the building it was necessary to improve the warmth and acoustics of the premises by using an interior finishing with MDF boards,veneered with natural wood, in 2 different formats: a) In the ceiling, through the original modulation of the manufacturer in 15 x 240 cm strips, 3 cm apart, lined with an acoustic insulation fabric in the inner side, in order to reduce resonance, and b) in the walls, 60x120 cm panels drilled with holes of different diameters, with the same acoustic objective but aimed to simulate an interior vegetal landscape, providing an atmosphere connected with nature.
