The Pachuca Sports Complex has become a reference point due to its location on the Felipe Ángeles Boulevard, the city’s most important highway, and opposite the Cultural and Recreational Park David Ben Gurión, an area of recent growth and modernization. <br /> <br /> The Sports Complex has been developed over an area of eight hectares and houses an all-encompassing sports centre under one roof. This includes a racetrack, football pitches, basketball courts, an auditorium, swimming pool, parking lots and all other necessary services for its smooth running. <br /> <br /> The arena, with its continuous elliptical shape, displays the typology of a stadium. The base appears to rise from the ground and attaches itself to the arena as if encapsulating the building. The volume has been positioned in response to the setting and it seems to “open itself up” to create an urban plaza facing Felipe Ángeles Avenue and David Ben Gurión Park. <br /> The building’s geometry, defined by the lightness of the ellipse and the hardness of the material and shape of the base, creates an architectural duality that is heightened by the façade’s colors. <br /> <br /> The scale of the geometric handling of the base favors the creation of almost isolated spaces, such as the courtyards and other distinctive areas where people can practice sport in greater privacy. <br /> <br /> Within the elliptical volume, the upper stands float on a large, transparent belt which runs around the whole perimeter and from the inside creates the illusion that the building has broken free of the base. On a physical level, the result is two large stand areas with a visual and motion filter. <br /> A pair of sculptural ramps provide vistas of the sports complex and the city itself, as they also rise above the plaza and attach to the building’s exterior. These ramps directly link the two arena areas together, forming a communication node and creating a continuous and efficient traffic flow.<br /> <br /> A grand staircase has been built outside of the building, which also acts as a stand for the football pitch. <br /> <br /> The arena, with a surface area of 25,000m², acts as a multifunctional sports ground capable of hosting different activities such as basketball, boxing or tennis. Furthermore, it can be used as a space for special events, with a capacity of between 6,000 – 8,000 people depending on the event being held. <br /> <br /> The architectural program of the sports complex is arranged into different activity areas. In the basement area, all indoor sporting activities take place. This includes a gym, boxing ring, wrestling, martial arts, squash, table tennis, gymnastics, dance, as well as a children’s play centre and café. The administrative offices and services are located in the ellipse’s main structure on the ground floor. Another café, snack bar, balconies, and services are found on the first floor and on the second floor are the audio, video, radio and television control rooms, another café, a snack bar and other relevant services. <br /> <br /> With regard to the sports center’s use of energy, several different architectural design strategies have been employed to ensure the building reduces its energy consumption. The building’s ventilation is produced using a “siphon” effect. Cold air enters from underneath the building in a sideways fashion through the façades and pushes the hot air upwards. Cold air enters underneath by means of four special pipes arranged in an elliptical radial shape and which surface at the level of the pitch. When there is not enough flow of natural air, the pipes activate fans which propel the air. In the base, at the ground level, the air enters naturally through cavities; in this case, machinery is used for air extraction so that suitable ventilation is achieved. In this way, an ideal temperature is maintained indoors using a minimum of mechanical assistance. <br /> <br /> Natural light pervades the building through the highly transparent façades and linear openings in the roof. This saves a considerable amount of electrical energy. In the same way, the complex has a wastewater treatment plant and the treated water is reused to irrigate the green areas throughout the sports complex. <br /> <br /> The landscape plays an important role in the complex’s design. Special consideration has been given to native flora and the environment, and these have been integrated into the collective elements, whilst maintaining the Sports Complex as the guiding component. The sidewalks and green areas of the outdoor plaza correspond with the traffic and pedestrian flow. The car parks have been conceived as “garden car parks” where trees are abundant and permeable paving is used. In addition to the above, the complex has been designed with the necessary infrastructure to facilitate a straightforward entry and exit, as well as ensuring the spaces are suitable for use by people of all abilities.