The Saint George College’s Gymnasium / Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos

The Saint George College’s Gymnasium / Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos - Image 2 of 54The Saint George College’s Gymnasium / Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos - Facade, GardenThe Saint George College’s Gymnasium / Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos - Image 4 of 54The Saint George College’s Gymnasium / Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos - Image 5 of 54The Saint George College’s Gymnasium / Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos - More Images+ 49

  • Engineering Calculators: Ruiz y Saavedra Ingenieros.
  • Lighting: Paulina Sir.
  • Technical Inspection: Juan Eduardo Mujica.
  • Client: Colegio Saint George’s College
  • Author Architects: Gonzalo Mardones V., Gonzalo Mardones Falcone, M. Jesús Mardones Falcone
  • Engineering Calculations: Ruiz y Saavedra
  • City: Vitacura
  • Country: Chile
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The Saint George College’s Gymnasium / Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos - Image 36 of 54
© Nico Saieh
The Saint George College’s Gymnasium / Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos - Image 8 of 54
© Nico Saieh

Text description provided by the architects. The Saint George´s College is located at the foothills of Cerro Manquehue, in the Vitacura neighbourhood, Santiago de Chile, in the middle of a forest that is maintained thanks to the microclimate of a place enclosed under the hill. This school, designed in the 70's by the architect Gustavo Munizaga, responds to a campus typology, with programmatic volumes scattered among the trees, covering the entire terrain and having the hill always present as a backdrop. The original idea takes the option of streets, hallways and squares, where circulations and volumes that compose the classrooms are arranged at the height of the trees foliage.

The Saint George College’s Gymnasium / Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos - Image 34 of 54
© Nico Saieh

The new gym is located in the same place where the old one was, also using the terrace used before as recreational courts.

The Saint George College’s Gymnasium / Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos - Image 26 of 54
© Nico Saieh
Roof Plan - Exterior Courts
Section

A first consideration was to join this major campus system without interrupting the views to the hill. For this, a building mainly buried was projected, keeping the maximum height of the volume to the same level of the roofs of the original school buildings. A second idea was to create a building able to hold sports activities, both inside and outside. For this, a large roof (fifth façade) was designed, as a support for outdoor courts, replacing the old recreational terrace.

The Saint George College’s Gymnasium / Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos - Image 10 of 54
© Nico Saieh

Programmatically, the building was resolved with a large central space that houses a main court (or three of training), stands with seats for 2500 people, stage and athletic training track, two lateral buildings housing each dressing and physical conditioning rooms; also, an upper building that receives the teachers' halls, being its roof a stand to the other courts of the sports complex.

The Saint George College’s Gymnasium / Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos - Windows
© Skye Chapman
Section
1st Underground Leve Plan

This building, being buried (sixth façade), is illuminated and ventilated by interior courtyards.

The Saint George College’s Gymnasium / Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos - Facade, Windows, Courtyard
© Skye Chapman
The Saint George College’s Gymnasium / Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos - Image 25 of 54
© Nico Saieh

The buried building was completely made of reinforced concrete, reaching twelve meters under the ground level. Concrete with added titanium dioxide was used, allowing the concrete to bleach, and also helping like trees with the elimination of toxic gases produced by cars (photocatalysis). In order to support the upper courts and generate the interior space, seven 50 meter long box-type beams were designed complementing the surface with a 20 cm thick reinforced concrete slab. These beams were divided in three sections in order to be transported, lifted and mounted in their definitive position. The sections were built in factory with pre-stressed concrete, and once placed in its temporary supports, the set was post-tensioned to assemble each beam. 

The Saint George College’s Gymnasium / Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos - Facade, Windows
© Nico Saieh

The set generated an important structure with a large mass. Given the seismicity of the area, it was necessary to place reinforced concrete walls around the perimeter, capable to withstand the stress caused by an earthquake. The walls were placed in a discontinuous way on three sides of the enclosure to allow the passage of light, stairs and accesses.

The Saint George College’s Gymnasium / Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos - Facade
© Nico Saieh

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Project location

Address:Vitacura, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "The Saint George College’s Gymnasium / Gonzalo Mardones V Arquitectos" 27 Apr 2017. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/870050/the-saint-george-colleges-gymnasium-gonzalo-mardones-v-arquitectos> ISSN 0719-8884

© Nico Saieh

智利圣乔治学院体育馆 / Gonzalo Mardones V. Arquitectos

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