Belfast Velodrome
Elite Athletes Programme Stage 2 bid
2008
Belfast City Council
The Council's proposal is to provide specialist facilities for four elite sports - cycling, volleyball, table tennis and fencing - combined with a community leisure centre and outdoor facilities at the Thomas Patton Memorial Park.
The scheme has been developed to RIBA Stage C+ and is currently the subject of a capital funding bid by BCC. Estimated construction value is £50m.
The scheme was prepared in association with FaulkerBrowns Architects.
The Velodrome has a distinctive plan form generated by the banked track which it contains. The interior function is about speed, movement and drama, and the external design is chosen to reflect these characteristics. Dynamic wall panels clad in shiny metal are fragmented with full height glazed panels, creating a lively Catherine Wheel form with sparks flying off into the environment. The spin off from the Velodrome takes the form of paths extending into the parkland, both open grass and woodland, creating a dynamic not currently experienced in the bland flat forms that exist.
The three rectilinear sports halls are simple boxes of varying height in accordance with the internal activity producing a dynamic roofline in conjunction with the Velodrome. These boxes are clad in a durable sustainable timber boarding providing an ecologically acceptable soft and warm wall finish appropriate to the parkland setting.
