First Prize at ideas contest
Sports club founded in 1930, with 14,400 m2 of sport facilities
“Tradition, Water and Olympism”
Greater amount of water sheets per member in Madrid
The Royal Canoe is a sports club focused on swimming, but also hosts other high-level sports such as: diving, basketball, water polo, rugby and synchronized swimming. Since 1983 it has held the title of “REAL” (“Royal”), granted by the Spanish Royal House.
In 2010, it called a competition for ideas for the expansion of its facilities. The team led by ARTBE Studio and THE INNOVA ROOM obtained the First Prize ex-aequo, although the client finally decided not to expand the Club at that time.
What We Did
THE INNOVA ROOM provided advice on sports spaces, operation and profitability. Working together with the team of architects, an innovative proposal was made to achieve a profound transformation and update of the Club.
The winning concept based its proposal on the articulation of the enlarged spaces by means of a large roof that gradually folded and adapted to the different levels, allowing communication between them.
The project presented increased the Club’s facilities by 6,000 m2, up to a total of 20,000 m2, while the flows and the relationship between the pre-existing areas were reordered with a more operational scheme. This would allow the incorporation of 2,000 new members to the Club, which is one of the most demanded and prestigious in the city.
Even with the entry of new members, the ratio of useful m2/member in the different areas increased, thanks to the redistribution and optimization of spaces and circulations.
Source of the images: own elaboration
