Laying the first stone of sports hall Groot Schijn Deurne

Compact yet spacious

The large sports hall that ZJA along with Archiles architects designed for GO! and the City of Antwerp, at almost 3,000 square metres, is compact yet at the same time spacious. Immediately striking is the layered facade of perforated corrugated metal with an ochre-coloured wall behind, and the sloping roofline and kinked facade profiles that merge beautifully with the play of lines in the park. Inside, because of the glass wall, there is a lively visual interaction with the campus square, designed by Stramien, and the Groot Schijn Park. The building is close to energy neutral.

Bas Symons (project architect at ZJA), says, “Just as sport can bring people together, the Groot Schijn sports hall in Deurne itself seeks out interaction. The second sports building in the Groot Schijn Park to be designed by ZJA and Archiles architects flatters itself with flowing lines in the green environment of the surrounding parkland. Inviting, attractive and user-friendly. For the pupils of the GO! schools and everybody in the nearby area. Because sport is for everyone.”

A wide variety of sports

The new sports hall consists of a large hall that can be divided up, for ball sports and gymnastics, two smaller halls for polyvalent use and what is known as a movement hall, to allow young sportspeople to get to know various kinds of sport before they start to specialize. In daytime three GO! schools – two primary schools and the Spectrum school which offers sports training – can make use of the building. In the evenings and at weekends it is available for sports clubs.

Sport in green surroundings

In 2021, ZJA and Archiles architects created a remarkable sports complex for Sportoase, where ice and water, in the form of swimming pools and skating rinks, are brought together under one roof. For other indoor sports, people will soon be able to use the new sports hall, which if all goes to plan will open its doors in the spring of 2025.

Bas Symons (projectarchitect ZJA): “Net zoals sport verbindend kan werken, zoekt sportgebouw Groot Schijn in Deurne zelf ook de interactie op. Het tweede sportgebouw in park Groot Schijn naar ontwerp van ZJA en Archiles architecten vleit zich met een vloeiende belijning in de groene omgeving van het omringende park. Uitnodigend, aantrekkelijk en gebruiksvriendelijk. Voor de leerlingen van de scholen van GO! en alle mensen uit de omgeving. Want sport is er voor iedereen.”