Multi-Purpose Hall, Altdorf, Germany

If a small town with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants decides to build a multi-purpose hall, special care needs be taken over money. The Swabian town of Altdorf has shown that this can be done. The municipality, located in the Esslingen district, chose an unusual way, one that was also unknown territory for the architect. The people of Altdorf opted for an industrial hall that was expanded into a multi-purpose hall. The challenge for the architect Werner Krepela was to equip this functional hall so that it complies with all current safety regulations and, in doing so, fulfils its new function as a sports and multi-purpose hall.

At the centre of the 50 x 28 m hall is a football pitch measuring almost 1,000 m². An unfilled LigaGrass Synergy with mineral support grain was laid as turf. The 978 square metre pitch, the largest indoor football pitch ever built by Polytan, is surrounded by a system of boards and a piping netting system at the sides and above the pitch. The boards and nets can be easily removed to enable the hall to also be used for other public purposes.