Rewind to WAF 2019 with a stunning sports centre
The Best Use of Certified Timber Prize, supported by PEFC, is back in 2020! To shorten the waiting time a bit, let's look back to WAF 2019 and a stunning project highlighted with a highly commended prize!
Rewind to WAF 2019 with a stunning sports centre
26 May 2020 Sustainable construction
The 2019 World Architecture Festival (WAF) saw awe-inspiring constructions and modern designs that set new standards in sustainability. And it is back again this year! Make sure you submit your project by 14 August.
Awarded for the second time at WAF 2019, the Best Use of Certified Timber Prize, supported by PEFC, highlighted extraordinary buildings that have certified timber as a main construction material.
Besides the winning project, the stunning Pingelly Recreation and Cultural Centre (PRACC) in Western Australia, the jury highlighted a second outstanding building.
Keith Bradley, Jonathan Coote, Hattie Hartman and Mark Thompson awarded a highly commended prize to Turó de la Peira’s Sports Centre, by Arquitectura Anna Noguera.
The construction is located in a residential area in Barcelona, Spain, and consists of a swimming pool and a sports court. Concentrating the two facilities in a single building allowed to make space for a garden that has become a place of social gatherings. A gallery of plants surrounds the building, protecting it from the sun.
A sports centre with a natural feeling
The project places special emphasis on the sensations it transmits to its users. The natural lighting, the vegetation and the use of wood provide a warm atmosphere, away from the coldness of other similar facilities. From the sports court, users can see the entire green facade and enjoy its changes according to the time of the year.
Wood is present throughout the building. In the pool, the warm colour of the wooden beams contrasts with the freshness of the water. On the sports court almost everything is made of wood, including pillars, beams, stands, walls, and floor parquet. The wood’s colour and texture is highlighted by natural light coming through the façades and the ceiling skylights.
A new generation of sustainable construction
By combining passive architecture with new technologies, the building is highly energy efficient and a prime example for sustainable construction.
The sports court’s climatic conditions are controlled in a natural way, through 24 skylights and windows that are opened by a domotic system controlled by sensors which detect humidity, temperature and CO2 levels inside the building.
The Best Use of Certified Timber Prize is back in 2020!
Also in 2020, PEFC will be supporting the Best Use of Certified Timber Prize, rewarding architects and project teams for using certified timber as the main construction material for buildings outstanding in sustainability, innovation, quality or aesthetics.
The 13th World Architecture Festival will take place in Lisbon from 2-4 December 2020. The winner will be announced at a Gala Dinner on Friday 4 December.
Please note that the deadline for entry is 14 August 2020. To enter your project into the Best Use of Certified Timber Prize, head to the WAF website!
Designing the Future with Sustainable Timber
Across the world, the architecture community is embracing solid and engineered wood to deliver high profile, award winning projects and everyday designs – from houses, schools and hotels to restaurants, theatres, supermarkets and swimming pools.
Under the theme Designing the Future with Sustainable Timber, a range of stakeholders have come together under the leadership of PEFC to promote the use of wood in construction in general and certified wood in particular. Join us! Contact us at fabienne.sinclair@pefc.org