The new sports hall is intended to serve as the focal point of the sports cluster on Forelstrasse. It echoes the scale of the neighboring industrial buildings and the maintenance depot, forms a new boundary with the agricultural zone to the east, and is designed to serve as a flagship project for the canton’s climate goals. The streamlined program of spaces and the use of renewable energy create a solid foundation for developing a project that is sustainable on multiple levels. In addition to the high ecological and economic requirements, minimizing the heated building volume, ensuring high flexibility for future adaptations, and constructing the building without a basement are of great importance. This allows for a reduction in initial resource requirements and ensures that long-term operation is energy- and cost-efficient.

The primary structure consists of continuous beams spanning three fields, designed as a truss structure. The fields have ideal proportions to balance the bending moment. The loads from the two adjacent room layers are suspended and act as “counterweights” to counteract the deflection of the main span. This reduces material consumption to 66% of that required for a single-span beam. The building height is reduced by 45 cm, resulting in a reduction of 850 m³ in the volume of space requiring heating. The hall is braced via the fire wall to the climbing hall and with simple wind bracing in the area of the two vertical emergency stairwells.

The hall opens onto Forelstrasse on the entrance side. Here, large glazing allows plenty of light to enter the hall through the foyer. The additive, light, and translucent sail serves multiple functions: It marks the entrance as a canopy, prevents unwanted glare during sports activities, and protects the hall from overheating in the summer as passive sun protection. Aside from this large structural opening, the hall is only opened locally. Light enters diffusely through three bands: The parking level, the “technical balcony,” and a large skylight band define the cross-section and accentuate the structurally interesting points of the building. They contribute to the building’s honest expression and also reflect, through their design, an awareness of the targeted and careful use of resources. It employs raw and technical building materials and adapts them through a playful and precise application.