Elfstedenhal Leeuwarden

AchterboschZantman Architects attended within the GEAR-collaboration, a consortium with Dijktra Draisma/Jorritsma. This consortium won the tender for the new ice rink in Leeuwarden. The jury complimented the team because they succeeded in making a design in which the functional part and the experience are at its best: ‘The chosen materials – construction and cladding -fit in well within the brand identity and the foundation. Also the sustainability plays a big role in the design. Management and the board of the Foundation are very enthusiastic about the design’.

A ‘design and build’-contract is chosen. The program of the ice rink contained a 400 meter rink, a small ice rink for children 30×60 meter in the middle, a separate ice rink with measurements of 30×60 meter, dressing rooms, a café/restaurant, a reception, technical rooms, offices and meeting facilities. The energy supply and maintenance in the future time was also an important part of the tender.
Ice-skating runs through the veins of the Friesian people. Learning ice skating is one of the oldest memories every child /adult has. The design of the ‘Elfstedenhal’ is based on these memories and translated into a new contemporary image of the Friesian identity and its connection with ice skating.
In this Ice rink leasure and exercise are in harmony with delivering sports performances. It will also be a place where the ‘Elfsteden’-feeling can be experienced. An environment where kids can feel like a hero by skating a small version of the ‘Elfstedentocht’. Important: the rink will function as the starting point of the over 200 kilometers long tour in which the Friesian landscape plays the main role. The landscape stays in the hearts and minds of the skaters and the public.