img(height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=2939831959404383&ev=PageView&noscript=1")

Zero to Hero commended: London Skeet by Vectorprojects Kenya

Words:
Will Jennings

Dom Cox and Florence Shitemu's proposal challenges the elitism of Olympic skeet and trap shooting events by placing them in an urban setting

There was an intensity of experience inherent in Cox and Shitemu’s design, concentrating eyes on the competitor.
There was an intensity of experience inherent in Cox and Shitemu’s design, concentrating eyes on the competitor.

In his application, Dom Cox noted that the Paris 2024 Olympics skeet and trap shooting events were sited at Châteauroux, an 11th century castle 170 miles from the capital. It spoke to him about inequalities at the root of the sport, that participants mostly come from rural backgrounds where gun licenses are more likely to be issued. But the mega-sporting events taking place in urban centres led Cox to consider the inherent politics at play in relation to urban gun crime.

In a provocative but considered project, Cox and Shitemu proposed an arced arena with a flitched and laminated OSB seating structure, its translucent fabric awning supported on trusses. The political provocation was less in the architecture and more in the supporting argument – though West Fraser’s Claire Ironside thought it used her company’s products intelligently.

The political provocation was less in the architecture, and more in the supporting argument

Tapered SterlingOSB Zero trusses support the contentious fabric membrane roof over spectators.
Tapered SterlingOSB Zero trusses support the contentious fabric membrane roof over spectators.

Fellow judge Mark Osikoya said that, for Commonwealth Games England, ‘the underlying principle of taking elitist sports into areas that are not elitist, is a big focus’, and acknowledged that shooting would normally take place at an elite facility.

Soaad Stott said that even if the membrane was translucent, sightlines at a skywards angle might not be advantageous for a sport where spectators need to observe the clay as it’s shot in the air as much as the shooter on the ground. But these were easily resolved in an otherwise conceptually and structurally rigorous design that resonates all the more given Team GB’s success in trap and skeet events at the Paris Olympics.

The structure seemed simple and resolved, with a compelling political message that resonated with the judges.
The structure seemed simple and resolved, with a compelling political message that resonated with the judges.

Latest

Housebuilders are increasingly turning to large-scale 3D printing to deliver low-cost homes, but do the reported benefits around speed and reduced labour and waste add up? Stephen Cousins reports

Housebuilders are increasingly turning to large-scale 3D printing to deliver low-cost homes

Design an inclusive on-campus cricket centre, help establish a national waterfront destination, create a display piece for a unique urban environment - some of the latest architecture contracts and competitions from across the industry

Latest: cricket and education centre

Dominic McKenzie Architects’ Segmental House extension combines nods to Scandinavian modernism with references to the arches and Flemish bond of the existing building

Dominic McKenzie Architects’ extension combines Scandinavian modernism with references to the existing building

Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, who set up SANAA 30 years ago, talk about how nature is both the context and inspiration for most of their work and how they aim to make architectural spaces where people come together

Practice founders Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa talk about their work over the past 30 years

While revenue growth hasn't kept up with the rising costs of running a practice, a surge in overseas work could help turn things around for UK practices, says RIBA head of economic research and analysis Adrian Malleson

A surge in overseas work could help boost revenue growth for UK practices