Pages

Olympic and Paralympic Shooting Venue / Magma Architecture


Situated in Woolwich on the grounds of the historic Royal Artillery Barracks, the shooting venue of the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2012 is designed to enhance the festive and celebrative character of the event. It aims to evoke an experience of flow and precision inherent in the shooting sport through the dynamically curving space.
Project description:
Three mobile buildings will accomodate the 10, 25 and 50 m shooting competitions. Shooting is a sport in which the results and progress of the competition are hardly visible to the eye of the spectator. The design of the shooting venue was driven by the desire to evoke an experience of flow and precision inherent in the shooting sport through the dynamically curving space.

All three ranges were configured in a crisp, white double curved membrane façade studded with vibrantly colored openings. As well as animating the façade these dots operate as tensioning nodes. The 18.000 m² of phthalate-free pvc membrane functions best in this stretched format as it prevents the façade from flapping in the wind. The openings also act as ventilation intake and doorways at ground level. It is estimated that more than 104.000 spectators will watch the competitions.