Important IAKS architecture awards for accommodations with Pulastic sports floors
On October 26, 2011 in Cologne the winners of the IAKS architectural awards for sports and recreation facilities have been announced. The Richmond Olympic Oval in Vancouver as well as the Ronald McDonald Centre in Amsterdam, both with Pulastic (sports) floors, got awarded.
The International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities (IAKS), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced the winners of their international architectural awards for sports and leisure facilities during the 22nd IAKS Congress in Cologne.
Together with the International Paralympic Committee in Bonn, the IAKS is also awarding the IPC/IAKS Distinction for sports facilities suitable for persons with a disability. The IPC/IAKS Distinction aims to promote accessibility to sports facilities and all other buildings in order to give people with a disability the opportunity to practise or view sport without limitation or barriers.
The most successful sports facility is the Richmond Olympic Oval in Vancouver, designed by Cannon Design: The Oval won the IOC/IAKS Gold Medal as well as the IPC/IAKS Distinction for Accessibility. Two months after the Olympic Games, the ice floor was replaced by 23,000 m2 multifunctional sports flooring. Also Descol, in cooperation with their local partner from Vancouver, started installing their Pulastic® SP floor.
Architect Larry Podhora from CannonDesign says: ‘We have a great deal of experience building prestigious sports locations. We often include Pulastic® surfaces in our designs. When the Richmond Olympic Oval was being designed, we faced some unique design challenges, including the flexibility to adapt the existing sports floor. We noticed that Descol was open to new ideas and thanks to their R&D knowledge, they made this project possible.’
The IPC / IAKS Distinction was also awarded to the Ronald McDonald Centre in Amsterdam, designed by Fact Architects. Also in this facility Descol installed a large number of floors, including the Pulastic® LED floor in the main sports hall and Pulastic® solid floors for example in the sports canteen and changing rooms.
Architect Peer Glandorff from Fact Architects: "As an architect, you try to convince others of your ideas. But you also want to challenge, in order to achieve something special together. This worked out great with Descol. A good example is our collaboration on the sports hall's line marking. My original idea was to "switch off" those facilities that were irrelevant for a particular sport. This resulted in line marking using light (Pulastic Led Court), an absolute world first for Descol. Another important aspect was the quality that Descol is able to deliver. One knows in advance the requirements set by the end users of the sports floor, and those characteristics must be guaranteed. Descol's floors are certified by NOC*NSF (National Olympic Committee), which is the quality guarantee that I am looking for as an architect. Ultimately, one looks for partners who not only want to participated, but who are capable and actually deliver".
Descol sports surfaces is very proud of this success and in the future we shall create more IAKS award-worthy projects.
For more information about the winning facilities: www.richmondoval.ca en www.kinderfonds.nl
