OODA reveals latticed training facility for Al Nassr FC in Saudi Arabia

Portuguese studio OODA has designed a training centre for Saudi football club Al Nassr, which will have a triangular-patterned facade informed by the country's traditional architecture.

Currently under construction beside the club's existing Al-Awwal Park stadium in Riyadh, the 4,000-square-metre House of Nassr complex, will comprise two training pitches alongside indoor facilities.

A pair of rectilinear volumes with latticed facades will flank the pitches and contain administrative areas and social spaces in one, and a hotel in the other. The project's first phase has been completed, while the second phase involving the hotel's construction is ongoing.

OODA looked to traditional Saudi architecture for its design, which carries a triangular motif for its openings across the development.

"The architectural expression is derived from an interpretation of references to Saudi vernacular architecture through the controlled use of light and shadow, rhythmic facade composition, and a filtering envelope designed in response to local climatic conditions," the studio said.

"This establishes a direct relationship with the territorial context and the club's identity."

Renders of the House of Nassr reveal two low-lying volumes stretching alongside the pitches. An additional pavilion building will overlook the larger training pitch.

The two main buildings will be composed of a textured base and a latticed upper level to filter light into the interior spaces.

The smaller of the two volumes is set to contain the hotel, with renders depicting the structure raised atop a series of walls punctuated with triangular openings. This will form an open-air ground level.

This layout, according to the studio, was designed to "respond to the operational demands of professional football" by creating a direct connection between the pitches and interior spaces.

"The architecture establishes a continuous connection between the buildings and the playing fields, structuring the project around the scale of the athletes and their sport," the studio said.

"The arrangement of volumes, access points and observation areas further strengthens the interplay between training and preparation."

Inside, the facilities will have neutral-coloured floors and walls set off by decorative details in the club's colours of yellow and blue.

Elsewhere, OODA also recently unveiled plans for a gridded skyscraper designed to be an "urban gateway" for Tirana, Albania, and has completed the Liga Portugal HQ and football museum with a honeycomb-patterned facade in Porto.

The renders are by Plomp and OODA.

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