brazilian tennis club pavilion turns local historical architecture into modern sports destination

the sports and events pavilion for minas tennis club is located at alphaville lagoa dos ingleses, city of nova lima, minas gerais, brazil. for the design of new buildings, architecture practice horizontes had to confront the existing master plan and adapt it to the new needs of the club and the members, creating a more up-to-date program. the new guidelines meet the needs of the club culture and update the architectural-urbanistic concepts. the final result is the relocation of uses and previously planned structures and the redefining the image of the buildings.

all photos by gustavo xavier

the sports pavilion is an open gym with large openings to allow visual integration with the lagoa dos ingleses and moeda. the diversity of the court spaces should allow multiple uses, including major sporting events (indoor soccer, volley, basketball, judo, etc.). the indoor pools are heated and visually integrated into the water, connected also to the indoor pools and the lagoon, through access to the basement storage area that houses the boats and warehouses. sports areas, snack bar, changing rooms and the administrative sector are placed on the first floor and space for events is on the second floor.

the events hall and administrative area, specifically, are conditioned but also have the ability to activate natural cross ventilation. the building’s design sought references in the old gymnasium of the bahia street downtown (designed by raphael hardy), but adapting them to a contemporary image. the sports pavilion also uses side gables and metal roofing, while the sheds were transformed into large vertical gantry access, which helps to lower the internal temperature and force out hot air through the ventilated façade, besides serving as a compositional element.

the variation of façade colors — beige and orange painted metal plates and copper — seeks to create a relationship between the metal color predominantly in the region and to maintain harmony with the works already built at the club. the relationships between old and new, natural environment and the built environment, public and private were important factors towards the final result.

project info:

architects: horizontes arquitetura e urbanismo

team: gabriel velloso da rocha pereira, luiz felipe de farias, marcelo palhares santiago

collaborators: carolina pereira rosa, cristiane coutinho, iris dias resende pereira, luiza buccini carneiro, mateus de oliveira castilho, larissa nunes costa e silvia guastaferro magalhães

engineers: oppus acústica, marco a. m. vecci (acoustics); bm projetos, paulo sérgio mol (façades); interclima, carlos rodrigo andrade (air conditioning); abadia (fire protection); paula machado engenharia e projetos, ari de paula machado (concrete structure); techneaço (steel structure), sergio velloso projetos (earthmoving works and foundations structure); interpam (lighting design), tese projetos sociedade civil  (water supply, sanitary and electrical installations)

trainees: camila saraiva, laila faria, lorena coscarelli e ludmila costa engenheiros

drawings: horizontes arquitetura e urbanismo    

photography: gustavo xavier

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edited by: maria erman | designboom