Student Activities & Athletic Facilities

The Role of Developing the Students’ Physical & Social Abilities

The main SAAF buildings have a vaulted nature; the “Geode” effect including Olympic Size Swimming Pool, Sports Hall, Basketball Court, Squash Court & Weight Training Room

These facilities will house a variety of activities which will help students to develop mentally, physically, plus elaborating their sorting skills through providing sports equipment and courts for the practice of their favorite sports, as well as deepening their sporting awareness. SAAF main purpose is to facilitate participation in the favourite athletic activities of students, helping to develop their skills and abilities.

Accordingly, Afaq Newspaper will concentrate this week on SSUC Athletic, Recreation & Aquatic Centre (ARAQ)

The ARAQ Men’s and Women’s buildings are located in the middle of the Campus, occupying plot numbers (201 & 202) for men and plot numbers (210 & 211) for women; comprising a total area of 21,092 square metres with a built-up area of 66 square metres for men; and approximate total area of 30,000 square metres with a built-up area of 66 square metres for women.

The main building serves as the gathering point for the entire student body. These facilities will house a variety of activities which help students to develop mentally, physically and socially as: competitive sports facilities, recreational sports facilities, swimming and diving facilities, food and beverages services, work and study support spaces, and support spaces for extra-curricular activities.

Characteristics of Design:

The main SAAF buildings have their vaulted nature; the “Geode” effect. The architectural design creates easily a visible way-finding. The building exterior has a monolithic expression of natural limestone; the design of the windows is based on a modular triangular system and to suit the solar orientation.

The Male Students’ building consists of 6 floors above the ground floor and basement for staff parking and providing different utilities. It contains Olympic size swimming pool, diving pool, 3 gymnasiums, 3 basketball courts, weight training room, internal track, stretching area, 4 rooms for different activities, health club (containing 5 spa rooms), medical clinic, dining halls of 600 persons capacity, branded café, indoor soccer field for women … etc. The basement contains 235 car parking spaces, including 6 for people with special needs.

The Female Students’ building consists of 6 floors and basement for staff parking and providing different utilities. It contains Olympic size swimming pool, diving pool,
3 gymnasiums, 3 basketball courts, weight training room, internal track, stretching area, 4 rooms for different activities, health club (containing 5 spa rooms), medical clinic, dining halls of 550 persons capacity, branded café, indoor soccer field for women … etc. The basement contains 330 car parking space, including 8 for people with special needs.

Completion

Completed Works of Male Students’ ARAQ

Excavations and membrane preventing water penetration plus concrete bases for the whole building are competed. Most of the walls surrounding the building at lower level and the reinforced concrete foundations are completed. For mezzanine floor (a floor between the basement and ground floor) 70% of the concrete floor and reinforced columns are completed; the outstanding works in mezzanine are in progress. Also, 30% of the concrete floor was completed for the ground floor which includes the main entrances plus the main swimming pools. For the installation of the steel structure, all the main columns were erected to fourth floor level, while preparations are ongoing to make ready the outside walls for stone cladding.

Completed Works of Female Students’ ARAQ

The completed works of this building is very similar to the completed works for Male Students’ ARAQ, where excavations and membrane preventing water penetration plus concrete bases for the whole building are competed. Most of walls surrounding the building lower level and the reinforced concrete foundations are completed. For mezzanine floor (a floor between the basement and ground floor) 60% of the concrete floor and reinforced columns are completed; the outstanding works in mezzanine are in progress. Also, 30% of the concrete floor was completed for the ground floor which includes the main entrances plus the main swimming pools. For the installation of the steel structure, all the main columns were erected to fourth floor level, while preparations are ongoing to make ready the outside walls for stone cladding.

Spaceframe Works

The total weight of spaceframes for both male and female students’ buildings is almost 35,000 tons, distributed between Male Students’ ARAQ (11,000 tons), Female Students’ ARAQ (12,700 tons), Athletic and Recreation Facilities East Men’s (ARE) (1,300 tons), Athletic and Recreation Facilities East Women’s (ARE) (2,000 tons) and the stadium (8,000 tons).

The spaceframe starts from basement level where the steel columns are installed – 8.5 metres in length and weighing between 12 and 18 tons. These columns shall support floors from the ground floor to the roof. These steel columns are coated with a 10 cm thickness layer of concrete to protect against fires. Steel bridges are installed starting from the ground floor level, where the weight is between 2 and 45 tons. They will be elevated over steel towers and welded by a professional team of certified welders.