Traditionally, Kalundborg has been a town where the inhabitants do a number of martial arts. But because the many martial arts sports clubs are not together in one place, they have had to make do with facilities that are not up to standard and too small or have to settle for the least attractive slots in the general sports centres.
This is why it was obvious for the municipality of Kalundborg and the Danish Foundation for Culture and Sports Facilities to come together and create the country’s first major sports centre focusing on martial arts. Together with the architects from Mutopia, the project has been in development for a longer period of time in order to focus more on taking into consideration the location in the local community around Herredsåsen and the other needs for sports facilities as expressed by the local residents.
The users have in fact from very early on in the process been included in the development of the project so that architecture, features and various wishes regarding specific activity options could come together in the best way possible. The Martial Arts Facility also changes the everyday life for the pupils at the School of Herredsåsen who no longer need to be transported far when they have PE.
Spectacular architecture with optimum facilities
The result of the development process regarding the Spiral is a spectacular architectural design in a building that on the inside houses optimum facilities for martial rights, dancing and softer forms of movement and other types of sport which are not given the best of conditions in ordinary sports centres that are mainly focused on handball, badminton and indoor football. There is also room for ball games in the Martial Arts Facility but the layout of the building did not focus on this as its first priority.
The Martial Arts Facility covers 2,600 m² and also offers innovative architectural thinking for sports halls. To ensure a dynamic conversion between many different kinds of activities, the Martial Arts Facility is in principle shaped like a spiral. Four sports areas or courts of various sizes are placed in the upward-moving direction of the spiral. This creates a special visual contact with all activities in the building. On each of the four levels there are storage rooms in order to exploit space in building most efficiently.
On the first level, you will find the largest sports area placed together with the changing rooms. On the second and third levels, there are smaller sports areas and common rooms. On the top level, you will find the smallest sports area that among other things work for more low-key children events and activities for children with motor function challenges as well as a lounge. The different sports areas are linked to each other by two smaller spirals that also contain an obstacle court and a balcony.