Watford Harriers are the clients and they run and have race events at Woodside stadium. Nick Willson Architects were engaged to look at the designs and subsequent planning application for two new buildings along the side of the existing stands and track.
One a replacement timing office and store building that would sit to the East of the stand and would replace the old container type structure that is now unfit for purpose.
The second building is a new purpose built indoor training facility building. The club currently doesn’t have a warm and usable internal space for training equipment and exercises when the weather is poor. The new training building sits to the west of the stands on an unused piece of land and will incorporate a new terrace into the sloped landscaping that will allow spectators to view the events from a new view point on the top bend of the track, and the start of the 100m.
The two new buildings will provide much needed spaces, and state of the art timing functions that will allow Watford Harriers to maintain its ability to run numerous events and training sessions at the club.
The existing timing office is housed in a set of tired temporary containers, this is very much a short term situation and the club would now like to propose a new permanent and purpose built timing office building. This has given us the opportunity to design a new two storey building that sits on the plot of the existing containers.
The new design aims to provide a better facility for the photo finish camera and also timing officials to sit and watch, record the races. This has resulted in a ground floor area and layout that has desks and viewing areas for administration and recording, with a covered area for external viewing and seating of officials and time keepers, along with a new storage area for kit and track functions. The upper floor is where the photo finish camera is located and more desk spaces/office facilities.
The new design and building maximizes natural light and views along the full length of the site, and track.
The existing building doesn’t allow for a satisfactory view along the track and start finish lines etc.
The positioning of the new corner windows will allow for and maximize this.
Architecturally the proposed building is a simple form with a mono pitched roof, this common form references the local context and the current club house design. The materiality chosen is a complimentary palette of red brick, red tiles for the roof and red metal cladding, windows and shutters.
The second proposal as part of the application is for the new indoor training building. This new proposal will sit the other side of the stands to the west on an unused piece of tarmac. The new training facility is a single storey structure that will sit with the front in line with the stands, this will result in a retaining wall to the rear and the removal of some non native trees. Please refer to the submitted tree report for justification and strategy.
The layout and deign of the building will provide a fully accessible and flexible indoor training space that will allow all athletes to train, warm up, and exercise in the warm during all weather. The space is an open plan form with built in storage and seating along the front facade.
Architecturally the form is simple and the roof is a single span mono pitch with exposed internal structural
elements. The front facade facing the track will have multiple layers and functions that include glazing, ventilation panels, external seating with a small covered canopy along with internal storage shelving for training equipment. The front facade will also have two entrance doors. The training space will be naturally ventilated.
With regards to materiality, the training facility will compliment the timing office and will be built from a matching red brick with an articulated bond, red tiles to the roof, and red metal cladding, shutters. The new seating will be a brick and concrete element for durability.
To enhance and ensure a secure set of facilities, all windows will have concealed shutters that will drop down at night.
To maximise the site and location, a new concrete terraced area will be incorporated as part of the designs, this will provide much needed seating in front of the building that will allow views of the top bend of the track, and the start line for the 100m.
