ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products
ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products
Design of the Klimcentrum Noardwand began in 2016 with the idea to expand an existing gymnasium and its catering facility to create a sports centre with more diversity. The original building had been designed by Richard Benneker from Vaessen, a construction company which specialises in designing and building sports facilities. For that reason, the developer (BV Sport) turned to him for the design.
“The new structure is dedicated to climbing,” says Richard Benneker. “The roof of the existing building was made of steel roofing plates and concrete supported by brick walls. To support the 20-metre high climbing walls of the new facility, we needed add a new floor above that existing roof.”
Those adjustments involved adding seven steel columns inside the existing building. They were capped with a 28-metre steel beam to support the climbing centre floor. “Steel is well adapted to extensions and it's a light material,” says Richard Benneker. “That made it easy to change the existing roof and add the new steel frame. And the construction could be carried out while the gymnasium remained in use.”
Richard Benneker wanted something remarkable for the ‘ski cabin’ at the top: “I’ve used Granite® Silky Shine in Gold before and I wanted to make it a part of this structure. But some members of the planning authority thought that gold was too flashy for the building. Levi Kleinjan, our contact at ArcelorMittal Construction, suggested Granite® Silky Shine in Siena/Red as an alternative. And it was the perfect choice. It still changes colour with the light and time of day and looks very chic.”
Richard Benneker sees the advantages of using steel in the type of projects his office develops: “I like the idea that steel can be re-used infinitely. And for facades, steel cladding is an advantage because of its light weight. That means we can use a lighter construction to carry the facade.”
State-of-the-art artificial rock walls enable climbers to scale heights up to 25 metres