'Building a sports hall requires a creative approach'

Building a sports hall is a specialty in itself. Especially nowadays, when the requirements are becoming increasingly stringent and comprehensive. Bouwgroep Dijkstra Draisma has made that specialty its own. The company is regularly involved in the construction of sports halls.

Sport halls built by Bouwgroep Dijkstra Draisma are already in full use in Dokkum and Almere, among other places; new sports halls are currently being built on Texel and in Eelde. They will be completed after the construction period. Characteristic of those buildings: the primary function is still sports. But, says project organizer Jelmer Dijkstra, much more is asked of a sports hall, by various target groups. "Multifunctionality is an important requirement. A sports hall is used by all kinds of associations and by education, but it must also be possible to accommodate other types of events. This ties in with the increased social role the sports hall has acquired over the years."

Good preparation
Dijkstra then points out the importance of proper preparation. This may involve traditional tendering or bringing parties together through a tender. "Our role is to help think about how to build the desired sports hall as efficiently as possible. In addition, we take care of aligning parties. This requires a creative approach and coming up with smart solutions, together with the other parties involved, in order to achieve a good balance between functionality, aesthetics and sustainability, for example. And to meet all the requirements." He cites as an example the sports hall in Texel, which also houses a gymnastics club, among others. "So that meant constructing a landing pit. Other requirements there were that the regulations of NOC*NSF and the KVLO, among others, had to be met. In addition, it involved a fairly large hall, consisting of five sections. That doesn't happen very often."

Texel

Acoustics
Acoustics is also always an important consideration, according to Dijkstra. "You can choose a certain solution in the preliminary phase, but if its appearance does not match the client's wishes, you have to look for an alternative; an equivalent alternative." And that is where Bouwgroep Dijkstra Draisma distinguishes itself, he points out. "We ensure that the alternative also fully meets the requirements. Not only on paper, but also in practice. If we promise something, we make it so. We have our own quality team that assesses this from the beginning to the end of a project and provides feedback to the client."

Sustainability
Finally, he mentions the aspect of sustainability, which has received increasing attention over the years. "As a result, higher demands are made on the installations and those installations have become more extensive. But it must still be possible to fit that into the sports hall. This also applies to the sports equipment, which has also become more complex. A lot more goes into a sports hall today than a climbing frame and two basketball nets. Play and exercise have become increasingly diverse. For us there is the wonderful challenge of creating sports halls that make that possible."