Modern Soweto Football Training Centre in South Africa

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Modern Soweto Football Training Centre in South Africa

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The collaboration project between Canadian firm RUFproject and the Nike Global Football Brand has finished this modern Soweto Football Training Centre in South Africa over the course of just six months. This football facility combines multiple fields, training and locker rooms, offices, a gym, a kitchen and more in a building encased in wooden louvers and sandstone.

Even though they had such a short time to complete the facility, RUFproject still managed to throw in a lot of sustainable design strategies, including energy efficient passive solar design. A locally sourced South African timber louver structure suspended from the steel acts as a sun screen on the east, north and west facades, protecting the building from solar heat gain. The building is cantilevered over the edges of the two main fields, creating a shady area that keeps the the gym, kitchen and trial areas cool.

The building’s lighting systems make use of energy-efficient fixtures, like metal halide fluorescents and LEDs. A solar hot water system on the roof provides plenty of hot water for the athletes in the locker rooms. Approximately 30 tons of recycled rubber tires were used to create the surface for the tunnel, gym and the cushioning and infill for the artificial turf fields.