Ancient clay ovens inform red-toned sports pavilion by Sam Crawford Architects
A large red roof and patterned red-brick walls were informed by ancient clay ovens discovered on the site of this sports pavilion in Willowdale, Sydney, completed by local studio Sam Crawford Architects.
Named Willowdale Sports Precinct, the pavilion is located in the southwestern suburb of Willowdale, an area rapidly densifying due to the upcoming Western Sydney Airport, and provides a clubroom, kiosk, changing rooms, toilets and a barbecue area for the surrounding community.
Sam Crawford Architects' design concept emerged after archaeological investigations, including the discovery of ancient clay ovens, revealed that the land had been used as a gathering place for millennia.
"Through archaeological investigations, the client uncovered evidence of more than 10,000 years of habitation," associate director Gabrielle Pelletier told Dezeen.
"The creek line running through the site was a meeting place for the Darug and Dharawal peoples, somewhere to trade, gather and share meals," she added.
"Ten millennia later, our brief was surprisingly similar: to design a pavilion where families and sports teams could gather, rest in the shade and share a BBQ."
Willowdale Sports Precinct is organised across a single storey, with an angled footprint that hugs the northwestern corner of a large neighbouring sports field.
Two separate volumes – one containing the clubroom and changing areas, and the other bathrooms – are connected by an expansive external terrace.
This terrace steps down to provide spectator seating to the south and forms a barbecue area to the east.
The brick walls that surround these volumes are finished with patterns designed by local design studio Lymesmith in consultation with the Darug and Dharawal peoples, and coloured with shades of "fire, clay and ash".
"Lymesmith was inspired by those ovens and the clay heat beads used for cooking within them, embedding cultural narrative directly into the architecture," explained Pelletier.
"Working with four different brick types, striated patterns across the façades culminate in a mural addressing the central covered space," she added.
Overhead, a large red roof with an angular "folded form" shelters both the internal volumes and the surrounding terraces, perched on red-painted steel supports that form a colonnade around the precinct's edge.
Facing the suburbs, this roof features a large gable end of perforated metal that acts as a beacon at night, while facing the sports pitch, it lowers in height.
Clusters of circular skylights puncture this roof above the pavilion's open gathering spaces, creating pools of light that move throughout the day, which Pelletier says "children – and adults– joyfully jump between".
To the east of the main pavilion, a parking area sits alongside a playground and a secondary, smaller sports field.
Sam Crawford established his eponymous Sydney-based studio in 1999. The studio previously completed a community pavilion in Sydney's Hurlstone Memorial Reserve with a roof wrapped in screens of red metal mesh.
Elsewhere, the studio recently reorganised a 1950s Sydney home around a multifunctional staircase with nooks for sitting and relaxing.
The photography is by Brett Boardman.
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