#EngineeringTheOlympics: Handball arena by AND Architects

#EngineeringTheOlympics: Handball arena by AND Architects

UK based Architects AndArchitects, who created six temporary buildings for the last games in London, are behind the 25,000m² Handball arena used during this years Games.

arena of the future

The stadiums box-shaped marks it out as one of the most unusual buildings built for the games. It is enveloped by rains screens made from horizontal wooden slats and punctured by letterbox-like openings.

The total cost of the building was £48 million.

The buildings facades don’t come all the way to the ground and reveal concrete ramps and staircases which provide access into the venue. Within, seats are brightly coloured in the game colours of green, yellow, orange and red.

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Once the Paralympic games finish in September, the building will go into a legacy mode, and it will be dismantled and turned into facilities for more than 2,000 schoolchildren.

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AndArchitects explain “the brief for the handball arena was to build something that would contribute to the city of Rio beyond the 2016 Olympic Games”.

The venue will make use of an innovative technique called ‘nomadic architecture’. As the arena and the schools were designed simultaneously this allowed And to design for minimal waste of materials. Modular panels were used for the facades, floors and roof so they could be easily relocated.

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The arena was open well ahead of the Games and has been hosting events since 29 April 2016.


AndArchitects are based in South West London.

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