Text description provided by the architects. Having undergone dramatic changes in the past few years, Dolní Břežany is a modern and attractive place to live. The municipality has been very active in the cultivation of public spaces in the long term and considers aspects of architecture and town planning a major focus when considering new projects. The primary school complex adjacent to the gymnasium has also undergone a major renovation and expansion; The gym is the further development stage. Břežany School got a new physical education space; The lounge is used by local sports clubs and the general public in the evenings for recreational sports. Generous interior dimensions make the venue suitable for cultural and social events.
The building is located on the edge of a built-up area in the middle of a large development. An attractive architectural concept - a spatial rotational ellipse - is a response to both current demands and an unknown future. The opening and operation of the hall can be a stimulus and inspiration for the further growth of the municipality, which is why the connection with the surroundings and public spaces is just as important as the natural connection with the primary school.
The hall is circular, smooth and abstract. The dome brings the scale closer to humans, the metallic surface reflects the surroundings, while the boundaries of the sky and ceiling remain blurred. The building hides its true dimensions and appears smaller than it actually is. The broad staircase in front of the hall, as integrated into the terrain as the building itself, defines the public space and creates a natural amphitheatre.
While the exterior distinguishes the gym from the school, the interior blends in with it using a combination of white and gray surfaces and hardwoods. The interior design reflects the surroundings. The visitor entrance is perpendicular to the street and parking lot, a west facing sliding window with a view of the city provides a connection to the school yard, and an east facing window is a peek into the future. The auditorium is integrated into the school by means of a corridor. The heart of the hall is a sports area measuring 45 by 25 meters, 8-9 meters high, divided vertically into three parts using movable curtains. Each third fits on a volleyball court. The division makes it possible to run three PE classes in parallel. Sanitary changing rooms are located on the school side, on the ground floor, separated from the sports area by wall bars; Machine room and offices on the first floor. On the audience side, there is a stand for 250 spectators, located above the storage rooms for sports equipment and other facilities. A corridor connecting the two parts of the runway overlooks an open atrium with a snack bar, also an important space. Graphic design studio Les kanců designed an original signage system for the sports hall, consisting of hand-drawn pictograms and numbers directly on the architectural concrete walls.
Ceiling and wall parts are lined with Ecophon Super G resistant acoustic panels; Pine cladding has been applied up to 2.5 metres. Heating and cooling is provided by a heat pump, drawing heat from the ground using a system of 24 boreholes 112 meters deep. The financial return of the system was calculated for 8 years. The Linosport xf2 sports flooring is laid on a resilient surface base, with REHAU floor heating installed underneath. Daylight reaches the hall through 68 Lightway Maximus tubes with a diameter of 1.2 metres. The Philips artificial lighting system includes a light exposure sensor, which automatically allows you to regulate the intensity and consumption of light depending on the time of day. Philips Pacific LED lighting has been installed in the hall.
The construction of the hall combines arched walls made of load-bearing reinforced concrete and a spatial steel lattice ceiling with curved truss frames up to 44 meters wide. The facade is made of natural aluminum ridge panels, and the roof section surface with light tubes is covered with white Firestone UltraPly TPO waterproof membrane. A number of auditory acoustic procedures have been applied to achieve the necessary reverberation time and good speech intelligibility.