Located in a central area of Madrid, in the district of Chamberí, the new Vallehermoso Sports Centre, designed my ABM Arquitectos, is taking the place of the old stadium complex built in the 1950’s. The former complex included the locally famous athletics stadium and a number of complementary sports facilities. Since closing to the public in 2007 and demolished in 2008, the Town Hall is planning the construction of a new Sports Center which is starting to become a reality after this project was selected as the design winner along with a new athletics stadium that will be developed later on. The construction of the new sports centre will start in 2012. It will be a gentle building in its architectural expression. It will embrace the city and interact with it creating a meeting point and an activity focus. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The site presents a very singular situation as it is defined by a slope of trees and plants to be protected that form a hill located at a significantly higher level than the surrounding streets. One consequence of this is that most of the building is buried behind this hill. This strategy allows the natural massive green slope to keep being the image and character of the urban net in this area of the city. The part of the building that stands out above the massive volume of trees and plants is therefore not very high.
