Multi-Sports Facility, St David’s Marist Inanda School

Location: Inanda, Johannesburg

The Multi-Sports Facility was designed as an upgrade and expansion of existing facilities at St David’s Marist Inanda School, responding to the need to accommodate the growing diversity and prestige of sports at the school. Situated to the east of the campus, the precinct sits within the more residential context of the school grounds. It comprises a new water polo pool, six tennis courts and three basketball courts, as well as two grandstand buildings containing change rooms, bathrooms and storage facilities that service all three sports.

Challenges posed by the compactness of the site have been cleverly dealt with to ensure that the circulation of spectators and participants is efficient and effortless, while viewing is expansive and unobstructed. Proximity to neighbouring residential properties necessitated careful planning to best contain noise. Bad soil conditions were addressed with a mixed structural system of concrete piles for the grandstands and a concrete raft for the shell of the pool.

The versatile and impressive new pool, designed to international specifications, forms the centre of the new precinct and adapts to both swimming and water polo requirements. Raised above the pool deck, the striking grandstands allow for change rooms with direct access to the playing areas below. Prominent, clean arches and a simple palette of white plaster and red face-brick are influenced by the school’s existing aesthetics and geometries. Around the harsh environment of the pool, the natural, hardy textures of concrete counter beautifully with sleek galvanised steel. These materials were strategically chosen to be robust, enduring and easily maintained, whilst achieving an elegant rawness.

Sustainability initiatives achieve a reduction in the running costs of the facility, as well as a lighter environmental footprint. The pool is solar-heated, with provisions made for future expansion to maintain temperatures through winter. A water recovery system receives backwash water into the school’s reservoir and irrigation systems. Stepped recesses in the facade allow for clerestory windows which fill the change rooms and bathrooms with natural light.