E+E and LETH & GORI to design Langvang Multifunctional Sports Centre in Randers, Denmark

A team led by Elkiær + Ebbeskov (E+E) and Leth & Gori won the competition to design the new Langvang Multifunctional Sports Centre in Randers, Denmark.

The winners went up against notable teams led by Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter, CEBRA, COBE and Kontur in the invite-only, two-phase competition. The new Langvang complex will consist of multiple arenas for a multitude of athletic activities and community events. Game on!

Keep reading to learn more about it.

Project description:

"The 5,300m2 large project with a budget of 52.6 mil. DKK (approx. US$9.7 million) is a combined sports hall and community centre consisting of a series of different multifunctional arenas for activities and events. The programme includes indoor athletics facilities with a 200m running track, 60m running track, and facilities for high jump, long jump, pole vault, javelin, discus, hammer throw and short put, along with different arenas for sports, a 200m roller skating track, play areas, dressing rooms, offices and meeting facilities for the sports clubs and a café."

"The building is based on an idea of double programming of space – for example double use of the indoor running tracks for roller skating or fencing. Another example is mattresses for athletics that are used for martial arts and high rope climbing routes. A unique space designed especially for women double functions as a dance hall and a multipurpose hall for meetings, concerts, theatre or parties. The roof of the building is also designed as an activity landscape which facilitates runners, skaters, bikes, roller skating and skiing in wintertime. In addition to the building the competition also included a masterplan of the surrounding areas for sports and recreation."

"A melting pot: The vision for the Langvang project is to create a place where differences can meet. It is a project where inside and outside melts together and where professional and recreational programmes can meet and co-exist in an open and inviting environment. The project releases the unique potential of the site by creating a unique meeting place where people can be active individually and as a community. A new sports landmark in Randers.

Inside-Out: E+E and LETH & GORI’s proposal turns the traditional sports hall inside out. Instead of making a big central space containing all the programme the project creates separate areas for the individual programmes organised around a central open courtyard inside the 200m running track. This results in a very optimised building complex where the different areas of the building can perform to the precise programmatic demands. In addition the individual building areas can be open to the outside and connected to the landscape around the building."

Project data:

Project: Langvang Multifunctional Sports Building 
Year: 2014 
Client: Randers Kommune 
Type: Invited 2-phased competition
Programme: Sports building/ community centre 
Area: 5,300 m2
Architects: LETH & GORI and Elkiær + Ebbeskov
Consultants:  LIW Planning [landscape architects], Hundsbæk & Henriksen [engineers], Klaus Eskelund and Rasmus Bergman
Status: 1st Prize

Images courtesy of Leth & Gori.

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