World Village of Women Sports.

The basement sports arena is not only beneath a central public space but also partially cuts under the four inner residential blocks. We were charged with delivering a clear span over the arena while supporting landscaping loadings as well as those from the residential blocks.

Paying particular attention to geotechnical conditions, we confirmed that constructing the arena would require excavating below the water table. The walls and floor would be formed by a watertight concrete slab, with ground anchors countering upward forces.

While the rear walls of the residential blocks would be supported on their own substructure, the fronts directly rest on the arena roof. In addition to supporting these loads, the roof arches also have to provide necessary clearance above the pitch.

A steel solution was pursued, due to a lack of depth for concrete, and we designed the roof as a series of tapering prismatic trusses. The proposed arches are very stiff, minimising deflections, while their structural depth at either end supports the loads from the residential blocks via a transfer truss.

The outer four blocks are concrete-framed, to deliver maximum acoustic performance. We also explored opportunities for the use of prefabricated and modular construction, helping to minimise cost and reduce timespan.