Municipal Boxing Gym

Municipal Boxing Gym
© Guadalupe Campos

Municipal Boxing Gym

Urbánika

ARCHITECTS
Urbánika

COLLABORATORS
Ana Lucia Lozoya, Humberto Mendoza, Adriana Baca, Lorena Méndez

STRUCTURE
Mario Aragón

ELECTRICAL
Gya Consultores

LIGHTING
Gya Consultores 

ARCHITECT IN CHARGE
Federico Campos, Oscar Chávez

GAS INSTALLATIONS
Myrna Ortega

PHOTOGRAPHS
Guadalupe Campos , Theo Leinad

AREA
659 M²

YEAR
2013 

LOCATION
Chihuahua, Mexico

CATEGORY
Gymnasium

Text description provided by architect.

This Municipal Boxing Gym is a project that responds both to the need of a public amenity and the boxing programming offered to the community in adjacent low-income neighborhoods in the City of Chihuahua.

Municipal Boxing Gym
Courtesy of Archivo Urbánika
Municipal Boxing Gym
© Guadalupe Campos

The gym replaces former improvised spaces provided for training such as residential garages, courtyards and informal open spaces.

The container is integrated by stone-faced concrete-brick walls that are rotated seven degrees each from their centerline.

Municipal Boxing Gym
© Guadalupe Campos
Municipal Boxing Gym
© Theo Leinad

This rotation creates a pattern with a connotation to textiles: rough as the skin of a boxer and artistically hand-crafted at once.

These qualities leverage the value of this building and encourage the appropriation by the neighbors of this public amenity. Columns and slabs are made of exposed concrete, resulting in a low-maintenance building.

Municipal Boxing Gym
© Guadalupe Campos
Municipal Boxing Gym
© Theo Leinad

An additional strategy aims to develop a complementary program: a plaza that makes even more public the already public building.

Additionally, we added to this design a small retail space to economically support instructors that volunteer at the gym.

Municipal Boxing Gym
© Theo Leinad
Municipal Boxing Gym
© Guadalupe Campos

The plaza is around two-hundred square meters and is protected by a cantilevered structure that provides shade and extends the use of this space even when the gym is closed.

The plaza also performs as an extension of the interior space of the building when the doors are open – each one of these four openings of 3.8 by 3.8 meters. Translucent panels above the boxing ring and a hanging box concentrating light provide a dramatic effect on the boxer’s confrontation area; this gesture aims to evoke the old marquees.

Municipal Boxing Gym
© Guadalupe Campos
Municipal Boxing Gym
© Guadalupe Campos
Municipal Boxing Gym
© Theo Leinad

On the second level, a weightlifting area and a terrace for private training complete the architectural program. In order to add value to the construction process and leverage the social profile of this project, we invited the photographer Guadalupe Campos to capture construction workers (both masons and foremen), as well as users and coaches.

This documentation project aims to acknowledge participants that are usually anonymous.


Municipal Boxing Gym
Courtesy of Archivo Urbánika
Municipal Boxing Gym
Courtesy of Archivo Urbánika



Municipal Boxing Gym
Section AA
Municipal Boxing Gym
Section BB


Municipal Boxing Gym
Elevation
Municipal Boxing Gym
Isometric


Municipal Boxing Gym
Ground Floor Plan
Municipal Boxing Gym
First Floor Plan


Municipal Boxing Gym
Detail
Municipal Boxing Gym
Detail
Municipal Boxing Gym
Detail