WO2008065071A1

WO2008065071A1 - Method to build a multi-functional sports structure, and multi-functional sports structure thus built

Info

Publication number: WO2008065071A1
Application number: PCT/EP2007/062807
Authority: WO
Inventors: Loris Clocchiatti
Original assignee: Polo Immobiliare Srl
Priority date: 2006-11-27
Filing date: 2007-11-26
Publication date: 2008-06-05
Also published as: ITUD20060244A1; EP2092140A1

Abstract

Method to build a multi-functional sports structure (10), in which at least the following steps are provided: - a first step in which at least a playing field (11) and one or more stands (12) are built, the stands (12) being standardized and disposed at the side of or around the playing field (11); and - a second step in which at least in the space defined below and inside the bulk of the stands (12) one or more functional units (13) are selectively assembled, built completely or partly in a pre-defined or pre-definable sequence, using at least partly pre- fabricated and/or pre-assembled constructional elements (20).

Description

"METHOD TO BUILD A MULTI-FUNCTIONAL SPORTS STRUCTURE,

AND MULTI-FUNCTIONAL SPORTS STRUCTURE THUS BUILT"

* * Ψ * Φ

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention concerns a method to build a sports structure, such as for example a sports center, a stadium, a sports hall or suchlike, of the multifunctional type, that is, provided not only with a sports plant and in the same context a design and construction plant, but also with other structures used for activities that are not necessarily intended for the sports event, such as for example commercial, recreational and cultural activities, management, tourism, catering, accommodation, health facilities and the tertiary sector in general.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Sports structures are known, such as for example stadiums for playing football, rugby, athletics or similar sports, team or individual sports, in which a playing field is provided, natural or synthetic, on which the sports event is carried out, and one or more stands or terraces disposed at the side and/or around the playing field and on which the spectators attending the event sit or stand.

Almost all known sports structures are specifically designed, structured and built in a manner geared for the sports event, that is, so as to be used in all its functions substantially only when a sports event is taking place.

The need to build multi-functional sports structures is becoming more and more frequent, in which apart from the structures and plants for holding and following the sports event live, there have to be commercial, recreational, management or other infrastructures present too, built in the same design and constructional context as the sports structure and perfectly integrated into it, which attract the attention and interest of the user also on days or in periods when no sports activity is planned.

Such multi-functional sports structures are normally designed and built completely and individually on each occasion, according to the purchaser's specific requirements, thus entailing very high design costs and methods and times to build them which are not optimum or easily foreseeable.

Moreover, known multi-functional sports structures are built with traditional columns and walls made of reinforced concrete, or steel structures, and therefore have a high environmental impact and very high costs of construction, installation and energy management. The reinforced concrete walls and columns, although partly pre-fabricated, must be assembled on site and, once in their definitive position, can be removed only by demolition. Steel structures have very low environmental sustainability and resistance to fire, and require protection with paints or coatings that contribute to increase the cost of construction and the environmental energy cost.

Another disadvantage of multi-functional sports structures built with traditional methods is that they are difficult to modify and/or extend, especially if the original aesthetic and architectural finishings are to be maintained.

In fact it may happen that, as the years pass, the commercial and sporting interests connected to the sports structure may vary and become imbalanced with respect to the studies carried out during planning.

With current sports structures it is almost impossible to increase or reduce the commercial or sports spaces, without providing demolitions and/or new constructions, with consequent limitations or prohibitions on the functional use of the services of the structure.

One purpose of the present invention is to perfect a method to build a multifunctional sports structure which is easily personalized, which has considerably reduced building costs and optimum building times, considerably more rapid.

Another purpose of the present invention is to perfect a method to build a multi-functional sports structure which has limited environmental impact and management costs, and which can be easily modified and/or extended, even after a period of time, substantially without compromising the aesthetic and architectural finishings and without needing long periods of limitation or prohibition on the functional use of the services of the structure.

The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is set forth and characterized in the independent claims, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the invention or variants to the main inventive idea. In accordance with the above purposes, a method to build a multi-functional sports structure according to the present invention provides at least the following steps:

- a first step in which at least the playing field and one or more stands are built, the stands being structurally standardized and disposed at the side and/or around said playing field; and

- a second step in which, at least in the space defined below and inside the bulk of said structurally standardized stands, one or more functional units are selectively assembled, built using at least partly pre- fabricated and/or pre- assembled constructional elements, according to industrialized construction systems.

By functional units we mean structures, or parts of structures, that can be built repeatably according to a pre-defined or pre-definable assembly sequence of the construction elements. Each of the functional units is able to define a specific environment, or a part thereof, usable for sporting, commercial, recreational, residential or other purposes.

In this way, the multi-functional sports structure built according to the present invention substantially consists of a standardized structure formed by the stands, the possible roofs, and the ground on which the sports events are performed, and by a personalized structure, or at least the greater part thereof, disposed below the stands and consisting of a plurality of functional units built of at least partly prefabricated and/or pre-assembled constructional elements which will host the different activities envisaged. The structural standardization of the stands constitutes an innovative characterizing element of the present invention, in that it is not intended to obtain a design uniformity, but rather allows to achieve different functional solutions in the same structural frame, both due to the conformation of the stands and also that of the roof. The present invention, for example, allows solutions with stands which have sectors and roofs that can be closed by means of structures with arches, a tensile or lenticular structure. The structural standardization is also advantageous for reducing costs and construction times.

The method of construction of the space below the stands allows mainly to optimize the spaces available and to render the design of the structure quicker and more flexible, adapting to the specific requirements of the purchaser, and providing at the same time a high number of possible solutions and reducing the times and costs. Moreover, since it is necessary to assemble the at least partly pre-fabricated and/or pre-assembled constructional elements, both the equipment and the times needed for installation are considerably reduced, foreseeable and optimizable.

The at least partly pre-fabricated and/or pre-assembled constructional elements also have the advantage that they can be individually replaced and/or integrated with similar ones, even at different times; it is thus possible to carry out any extensions and/or modifications, substantially without needing to carry out extensive demolitions or provide limitations and/or prohibitions on the functional use of the services of the structure thus built.

In a preferential form of embodiment of the present invention, during the second step the at least partly pre-fabricated and/or pre-assembled constructional elements are made with a bearing structure of lamellar wood with dry completion works, which gives the advantage that they are light and environmentally sustainable.

In this form of embodiment, while they guarantee maximum structural solidity and anti-seismic characteristics of the structure built, the modules are lighter than structures built of reinforced concrete, with consequent advantages in their simplicity of transport and installation. Moreover, the wooden structures obviously have a lesser environmental impact compared with structures of reinforced concrete or steel, and confer aesthetically an architectural finishing that is warm and welcoming.

Another advantage is that the construction method, advantageously with a wooden structure, guarantees an excellent heat seal that allows to improve the conditions of heat and acoustic insulation, and hence lower management costs.

According to another form of preferential embodiment, the method provides a third step in which a covering structure is built, over at least one sector of the stands.

According to another form of embodiment, the covering structure is disposed substantially over all the stands. In this case, the structural standardization of the stands allows to achieve structural solutions for the coverings that can assume other aesthetic forms defined by the different static choices on the main bearing structures, that is, with arches, tensile structure, beams, lenticular, cantilevered, or others. According to a variant, the covering structure is generally translucent and at least partly transparent, to allow a better solar radiance on the ground and on the stands.

According to another form of embodiment, a fourth step is provided, which can be performed even several years after the second or third, in which one or more of said at least partly pre-fabricated and/or pre-assembled constructional elements are disposed, with characteristics similar to those built below the stands, also outside the bulk of the stands, so as to define auxiliary functional units, which have possibly become necessary over time, or already required during the planning step. According to another form of embodiment, the external facades of the pre- assembled constructional elements positioned outside and inside the bulk of the stands can be easily covered as desired, using the normal techniques of aesthetic covering of building constructions, so as to be able to personalize the aesthetics of the multi-functional sports structure built. In conclusion, the present invention allows to include in a single multifunctional sports structure structural, functional, plant and architectural concepts and criteria conceived according to the principles of ecological design, environmental sustainability and low energy consumption.

In this way, we achieve a substantial auto-regulation of the internal and external comfort of the multi-functional sports structure through the architectural design alone, actuated according to bioclimatic analyses of the sites involved and implemented by complementary and integrated plant designs, which allow to bring down the management costs enormously, guaranteeing comfort inside the buildings and inside the multi-functional sports structure, and even to produce energy with the possibility of transferring excess energy to the surrounding neighborhood.

These strategies include, for example, the placing of shafts to be built under the playing field or towards the external park, for the natural air-conditioning of the stands.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferential form of embodiment, given as a non-restrictive example with reference to the attached drawings wherein:

- fig. 1 is a schematic view of a multi-functional sports structure during a first construction step of a method according to the present invention;

- fig. 2 is a schematic view of the multi-functional sports structure in fig. 1 during a second step of the method according to the present invention; - fig. 3 is a schematic view of the multi-functional sports structure in fig. 1 during a third step of the method according to the present invention;

- fig. 4 is a schematic view from above of the multi-functional sports structure in the state of construction shown in fig. 2;

- fig. 5 is a schematic view of a cross section of a detail of the multi-functional sports structure built in the steps shown in figs. 1, 2 and 3;

- fig. 6 is a schematic side view of an evolved variant of the multi-functional sports structure built in the steps shown in figs. 1, 2 and 3;

- fig. 7 is a schematic view of a cross section of a detail of the evolved variant of the multi-functional sports structure in fig. 6. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERENTIAL FORM OF

EMBODIMENT

With reference to the attached drawings, a preferential form of embodiment is shown of a multi-functional sports structure according to the present invention.

In this case, simply to give an example, the multi-functional sports structure according to the invention is a stadium 10 for playing football, but it cannot be excluded that the multi-functional sports structure according to the invention can be suitable for different sporting competitions such as for example basket ball, volleyball, tennis, hockey, swimming or others, or host recreational-cultural events like concerts, theatrical works or others. Nor can it be excluded that the multi-functional sports structure according to the present invention can be suitable to host different events, and provide known mechanisms to move and replace the playing field, according to the sports event programmed. The stadium 10 according to the invention substantially consists of a playing field 11 on which the sports event takes place, a plurality of terraces or stands 12, disposed annularly around the playing field 11, a plurality of multi-functional functional units 13 disposed below and inside the bulk of the stands 12, and a roof 15 disposed above the stands 12.

The playing field 11 is of a substantially traditional type, for example of grass or synthetic, and is sized so as to respect the norms in force concerning said sports competitions.

In this case, the stands are at a constant height and substantially consist of standardized elements or sectors (fig. 4), respectively longitudinal 16, transverse 17 and corner 19, disposed in pairs so as to cover the whole perimeter of the playing field 1 1.

In particular, two longitudinal sectors 16 are provided in correspondence with the long sides of the playing field 11 , two transverse sectors 17 disposed in correspondence with the short sides of the playing field 11 and four corner sectors 19 disposed to connect the longitudinal sectors 16 with the transverse sectors 17.

Each sector 16, 17 and 19 is built of a mixed structure of steel and concrete cast on site with structural buttresses of prestressed reinforced concrete to support the lower part of the relative sector 16, 17, 19, also functioning as a thrust bearing block for the horizontal loads transmitted by the two-directional reticular steel structures provided to support the upper part of the stands 12.

Each sector 16, 17 and 19 provides a plurality of pre- fabricated elements that define different rows of internal seats and possible boxes, facing the playing field 11 so as to follow the sports event live, and has an inclination such as to allow all the spectators to see the playing field 11 easily and without interference. On average, the seats at the top of every sector 16, 17 and 19 have a distance from the playing field 11 of about 31 meters, and a difference in height equal to about 15.80 meters. Advantageously, escape routes and exits are also provided, equipped for the disabled, so as to render dispersion of the spectators quick and safe.

In this form of embodiment, the sectors 16, 17 and 19 are disposed as adjacent as possible to the playing field 11 and are arched planimetrically, so as to improve the visibility of the playing field 1 1 from all the seats, particularly those situated on the corner sectors 17. Furthermore, the arched conformation of the sectors 16, 17 and 19 allows a more suitable disposition on the playing field 11 of possible benches, advertising posters, the medical staff and other assistants. According to some variants, not shown here, the sectors 16, 17 and 19 are planimetrically rectilinear, so as to reduce the construction costs slightly, or some of the sectors 16, 17 and 19, or part of them, may not be provided. For example, two or four of the corner sectors 19 may be eliminated, or one of the longitudinal sectors 16 or transverse sectors 17, so as to define a desired capacity and/or aesthetics of the stadium 10 once finished.

As shown in figs. 2 and 5, the functional units 13 are disposed inside the lower bulk of the stands 12, and each consists of a plurality of at least partly prefabricated and/or pre-assembled constructional elements 20, which when assembled on site define a relative environment in which sporting, commercial, recreational, management or other infrastructures can be set up. This allows to construct a stadium 10 as a whole that offers the public a commercial and recreational attraction which extends substantially over all the days of the week, irrespective of when the sports events are planned.

This advantage allows the stadium 10 to remain functional and offer accommodation substantially constantly, and thus to increase the ancillary industries.

Each construction element 20 is constituted according to the usual norms of ecological design and is provided mainly with a bearing structure of lamellar wood with dry completion works, that is, by means of pre- fabricated panels consisting for example of a wooden structure combined with layers of insulating, aggregating or other materials.

Each construction element 20 is suitable to be positioned on site structurally independent, that is, it does not need support on the stands 12, so as to guarantee its own structural bearing. The construction elements 20 are also conformed so as to be positioned and removed independently with respect to each other, and allow to optimize the exploitation of the spaces in the compartment defined below the stands 12.

In this case, as shown particularly in fig. 5, the functional units 13 defined by the various construction elements 20 can develop up to three storeys above ground and with one floor only partly in the ground.

However, it cannot be excluded that, according to the overall size of the stadium 10 built, the functional units 13 can develop on a number of storeys different from the one shown here.

Simply to give an example, the construction elements 20 disposed both above the ground and in the ground are equipped to accommodate bars, cinemas, shops, restaurants, management activities, cultural activities, recreational activities, gymnasiums, technical compartments, swimming pools, surgeries or other sports and/or health infrastructures, apart from the service structures pertaining to the sports activities proper.

As shown in the evolved variant in figs. 6 and 7, the functional units 13 also comprise a plurality of additional bodies 21, also of the pre-fabricated modular type, positioned autonomously outside the bulk of the stands 12, and able to be equipped internally to define accommodation, commercial, recreational, management or other infrastructures, according to the specific functional requirements of the stadium 10.

The additional bodies 21, like the construction elements 20, since they are structurally independent with respect to each other and with respect to the stands 12, can be individually removed and/or integrated, even after the works to complete the stadium 10 have been finished, so that it is possible to satisfy all the functional requirements that may arise even after many years.

The use of structurally independent modules also allows to reduce the construction times to a minimum, without needing demolitions and/or long interruptions to the services provided.

As shown in figs. 4 to 7, the stadium 10 according to the present invention is provided with a roof 15, in this case standardized and self-supporting, which extends substantially over all the stands 12. The roof 15 also comprises at least a part built with a steel bearing structure that is anchored to the sectors 16, 17 and 19 of the stands 12, and the rounded perimeter shape of the stands 12 is exploited to propose self-supporting radial static patterns.

This solution allows a considerable architectural and structural lightening of the vertical perimeter supporting elements. The surface of the roof 15 is preferably built with translucent or transparent stratified polymeric membranes of ETFE (ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene) and/or PVC (polyvinyl chloride), so as to provide at least a transparent sector 22, advantageously oriented so as to exploit the sun's rays, and able to allow, at the same time, an effective coverage of the stands 12 and more light for the playing field 11.

According to the environmental characteristics of the place where the stadium 10 is built, the surface of the roof 15 can be made of fretted sheet metal or suchlike with the transparent sector 22 made of sheets of polycarbonate, or suchlike.

According to some variant solutions and according to the disposition of the sectors 16, 17 and 19 that form the stands 12, the roof 15 can be built with a tensile structure, supported by longitudinal and/or transverse arches, completely closable, or other solutions, also depending on the type of event that is hosted or can be hosted, and/or the climatic conditions, or other aesthetic and organizational factors.

The stadium 10 as described heretofore is constructed with the following method.

First of all, the playing field 1 1 and the stands 12 (fig. 1) are built, or at least prepared, disposing the various standardized sectors 16, 17 and 19 around the playing field 11, so as to define the desired base structure of the stadium 10, both according to the capacity and the aesthetics provided.

Advantageously, the playing field 11 and the stands 12 are disposed according to the orientation provided by the relative sports regulations, and in any case optimally with respect to the sun, so as to exploit to the utmost the light and the heat supplied, consequently saving on the costs of management.

Once the stands 12 are finished, the construction elements 20 that will make up the functional units 13 are pre-assembled on site.

The construction elements 20, and possibly the additional bodies 21, are positioned individually below the bulk of the stands 12, according to techniques of the construction system, which is not affected by the upper presence of the stands 12, with a positioning movement from below of the construction elements

20 (figs. 2, 3, 6 and 7). The construction elements 20 are connected with each other in a desired manner to define the different sports, recreational, commercial and/or management infrastructures provided.

This operation has the advantage of being able to be done in a period of time that can easily be estimated and with a great flexibility for later modification, also providing the disposition or removal of construction elements 20 not provided in the design step.

Once the functional units 13 have been defined, the roof 15 is disposed above the stands 12 (fig. 3).

It is clear however that modifications and/or additions of parts or steps may be built to the stadium 10 and the relative construction method as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention.

For example, it comes within the field of the present invention to provide an external roof for the functional units 13, according to known building techniques, for example by means of panels, mirrors, wooden and/or steel structures, lighting, or other, according to the specific aesthetic requirements.

It also comes within the field of the present invention to provide, as shown in fig. 7, that outside the stadium a multi-plane modular body 23 is disposed, separate and with a circular base, which can be used for accommodation, commercial, informative or other activities. According to another variant, the roof 15 is provided for at least a part of its external surface with photovoltaic panels to transform the energy of the sun's rays into heat energy for heating and/or electric energy for the users.

It also comes within the field of the present invention to provide that the multifunctional sports structure 10 is provided with associated general plant systems, of a known type and not shown here, which are adapted and integrated for a coordinated use inside the multi-functional sports structure.

For example, it is provided to use several energy sources to increase the flexibility of use during the various periods of the year, like a cogeneration plant, using methane or biomasses, to produce electric energy by recovering the heat produced and to produce hot water (heat energy) or steam; a plant to exploit geothermal energy which, for every KW of primary energy used, allows to obtain about 4-5 KW, that is, the real consumption of primary energy is about 20-25% of the real heat energy available for buildings; photovoltaic panels; solar panels, or other.

In this way, we also have the advantage of obtaining a considerable reduction in energy consumption when air-conditioning the rooms, when heating or cooling vectors are used with a temperature that only diverges by a few degrees (about 8÷12°C) from the environmental temperature, since every divergence from the optimum temperature determines a greater energy cost of the plant.

That is, in summer conditions, to obtain a comfortable environmental temperature of about 25÷26°C, it is better not to have to cool the cooling vector (air or water) excessively with respect to its natural temperature, whereas in winter conditions, to obtain a comfortable environmental temperature of about 19÷20°C, it is better not to have to heat the heating vector (air or water) excessively with respect to its natural temperature.

To achieve these results, Applicant has directed the plant choice towards solutions of a radiant type (with heat pumps functioning with water or water- ammonia) on the wall and/or ceiling.

According to the present invention plants are also provided to guarantee adequate ventilation, sized according to the use of the premises and the number of persons present, and self-regulating intake mouths for the air, and the introduction of fresh air through low-speed positioners. Advantageously, the temperature of the fresh air introduced is tempered by the air exiting, so as to render the system even more efficient and reduce consumption.

Furthermore, the present invention can provide that on the external roof of the functional units 13 and/or the additional bodies 21 and the multi-storey modular body 23, advertising posters can be assembled, either static or dynamic; the latter are built using classical plants, such as for example mobile strip adverts, but also with innovative plants such as metal support nets with the LEDs managed by a computer to animate the images and plays of light or laser technologies to produce three-dimensional holographic images.

It is also clear that, although the present invention has been described with reference to specific examples, a person of ski ll in the art shall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent forms of method to construct a multi-functional sports structure, and multi-functional sports structure thus constructed, having the characteristics as set forth in the claims and hence all coming within the field of protection defined thereby.

Claims

1. Method to build a multi-functional sports structure, characterized in that it comprises at least the following steps:

- a first step in which at least a playing field (11) and one or more stands (12) are built, the stands (12) being structurally standardized and disposed at the side of or around said playing field (11); and

- a second step in which at least in the space defined below and inside the bulk of the stands (12) one or more functional units (13) are selectively assembled, built completely or partly in a pre-defined or pre-definable sequence, using at least partly pre-fabricated and/or pre-assembled constructional elements (20).

2. Method as in claim 1, characterized in that it provides a third step in which a covering structure (15) is built over at least one sector (16, 17, 19) of said stands (12).

3. Method as in claim 2, characterized in that said covering structure (12) is made at least partly transparent.

4. Method as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that it comprises a fourth step, in which one or more of said functional units (13) is also disposed outside the bulk of said stands (12), so as to define auxiliary service structures.

5. Method as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that each of said functional units (13) is built at least partly with a bearing structure made of lamellar wood with dry completion works.

6. Method as in claim 4, characterized in that said fourth step can be carried out even a long time after said second step or said third step.

7. Method as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that the external facades of said functional units (13) are covered externally using common techniques of aesthetic coating of building constructions.

8. Multi-functional sports structure, characterized in that it comprises at least a playing field (11), one or more stands (12) structurally standardized and disposed at the side of or around said playing field (11), and one or more functional units (13), built in a pre-defined or pre-definable sequence, using at least partly prefabricated and/or pre-assembled constructional elements (20), and selectively positioned at least below and inside the bulk of said stands (12).

9. Structure as in claim 8, characterized in that it also comprises a covering structure (15) disposed on at least one sector (16, 17, 19) of said stands (12).

10. Structure as in claim 9, characterized in that said covering structure (15) at least partly consists of transparent material.

11. Structure as in any claim from 8 to 10, characterized in that it comprises one or more of said functional units (13) outside the bulk of said stands (12), so as to define auxiliary service structures.

12. Structure as in any claim from 8 to 11, characterized in that each of said functional units (13) at least partly consists of a bearing structure made of lamellar wood with dry completion works.

13. Structure as in any claim from 8 to 12, characterized in that the external facades of said functional units (13) are covered with an aesthetic coating for building constructions.

14. Structure as in the previous claims, characterized in that said aesthetic covering is conformed to house both static and dynamic advertising posters.