UFRJ - Hóquei sobre grama, Rugby e Natação | EFFECT ARQUITETURA

Sports equipment have high maintenance and construction costs. These costs are particularly high, politically speaking, in countries with limited investment in essential areas as it is in Brazil. With high performance equipment for sports, importing goods with less favorable currency conditions is the rule.
In the low-income periphery neighborhoods, the vacant dirt sites used as football (soccer) fields are, a lot of times, the only recreation option available to the younger people, and the school of some professional athletes.
In this context, the opportunity to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games was seen, by a part of the population, as a waste of public money.
Thinking about the optimization of funds, sustainability, and the premise of building a long-term asset, the restructuring project of the Faculty of Physical Education at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro was conceived.
Considered one of the greatest legacies of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the renovation and expansion of UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) in its Physical Education Faculty, brought among many aspects the renewal of one of the most important teaching institutions in Brazil.
Despite its importance, the conditions of use of the university facilities were very degraded and outdated in several aspects, from its basic maintenance, accessibility, adequacy to the standards, among others.
The reform and expansion of the Faculty of Physical Education of UFRJ arises within the legacy plan of the Rio 2016 Games and the master plan of the university.
The opportunity to host the Synchronized Swimming, Hockey and Rugby training centres, brought along the opportunity to reform and modernize the other areas adjacent to the competition areas, such as locker rooms, classrooms, medical department, among others, besides bringing the most modern sports equipment in the world to the institution, such as a pre-molded steel swimming pool, synthetic grass fields with irrigation systems that did not exist in Brazil and official grass field with irrigation through the treatment of reuse water.
The space designed at UFRJ after completed, was used pre and during the games, with the implementation of the Overlay designed and meeting with excellence the needs of athletes during competitions.
The university campus was used before and during the Olympic Games as a training centre for athletes. After the games, the new facilities were incorporated into the university as part of the Olympic legacy.
The university's master plan for expansion was used to guide the design.
The olympic swimming pool, which had exposed piping, filtering and pump house problems, was entirely remodelled using a prefabricated model installed in the old concrete box.
In order to cater to the demands of the games, hockey pitches, which are rare in the country, were designed. A natural grass field was also created for rugby and football.
The buildings in the facility had serious infrastructure problems and a severe lack of accessibility. The technical rooms, changing rooms, toilets and classrooms were renovated as well as the playing areas. The surrounding area was re-urbanised.
Considering the need to offer adequate facilities for competitions that would not result in underused structures, it was also decided to adopt temporary structures during the games to expand the possibilities of using the facilities.