SPORTS CANOPY – NECKARSULM (GERMANY)

A former fairground turned into a covered, open-access sports court

In Neckarsulm, the old fairground has found a new purpose. SMC2 designed and built a 1,189 m² multi-sports canopy that now shelters a multi-use games area open to everyone. A stretch of tarmac left unused for much of the year has become an everyday place to play, whatever the weather.

The structure spans 40 metres by 29.70 metres, rising to 7.30 metres at its highest point with 6 metres of clear height beneath the columns. Its frame is a timber structure combined with hot-dip galvanised steel, a hybrid system that clears long spans with minimal material. The roof is made up of translucent white tensile membrane modules, coated on both faces and stretched across the frame.

What defines the project is the way the build settles into the ground. The playing surface was lowered 60 centimetres below existing ground level, and the strip foundations serve a double purpose: they frame the pitch and, along both long sides, form seating steps where spectators can sit and watch. The structure does not sit on the square so much as fit into it. Existing trees on the site were protected throughout construction.

Playing comfort drove every technical decision. The translucent membrane lets daylight through, keeping the pitch sheltered from rain and sun without darkening it; for the end of the day, LED floodlighting integrated into the frame extends use into the evening. The EPDM surface carries basketball and handball markings, with two goals fitted with basketball hoops, while ball-stop netting closes the gable ends and keeps balls inside the site.

With this project, SMC2 shows that a quality sports facility can stay entirely open to the town. No gate, no opening hours: just a covered, floodlit pitch, available in the middle of a neighbourhood.