Chelsea FC chooses Sapa's Technal systems for academy extension

Aluminium façade systems from the Technal brand have been specified for a third project at Chelsea Football Club’s training academy campus in the UK - a seamless below-ground extension to an existing pavilion. Sited on green-belt land, the extension demanded a sensitive architectural approach to ensure minimum visual impact in the landscape.

Designed by AFL Architects and using the same palette of materials as in the original building at Cobham, in Surrey, the basement extension - now complete - provides additional gym, medical treatment and rehabilitation areas immediately adjacent to the existing fitness and related activities. Excavation of a moat enabled the project to avoid any further outward construction or compromise the original design for the campus.

In order to maintain natural lighting and the design quality of the training facility, the new basement space was enclosed in Technal’s GEODE-MX Trame Horizontale curtain walling, supplemented by a series of light wells.

This curtain walling system had already been used extensively on the original building to give the academy an open and spacious feel and an eye-catching, contemporary design. It had also been specified for the adjacent youth and community facility that was completed in 2009.

Technal is one of Sapa’s aluminium building systems brands.

Below-ground façade

Fabricated and installed by Ridlands, the new below-ground façade is three meters high and around 40 meters long. The curtain wall was glazed in low E-toughened glass and was faceted to follow the sweeping line of the moat.

Metallic gray aerofoil caps run along the façade to provide horizontal emphasis, with flat black profiles softening the appearance of the vertical sections. Internally, the system was finished in metallic silver, and Technal’s hinged double CD commercial doors were inserted into the curtain walling for access to the gym.

“We have specified Technal’s products on multiple projects, including the original building on this training campus, which both ourselves and the client have been very pleased with,” says associate director John Hampton of AFL Architects.

“Our aim was for there to be no difference in appearance between the extension and the original building, and so we had to achieve a seamless transition between the two. The curtain walling allowed us to realize this aesthetically and to deliver a high level of thermal efficiency. The full-height continuous glazing also allows a sufficient amount of light into the basement. The façade systems are all performing extremely well.”