Highlight of the month

Curragh Racecourse

Floating elegance: the new grandstand at the Curragh

The Curragh Racecourse, affectionately known in the Irish horse racing community simply as the Curragh, is Ireland’s leading thoroughbred racecourse. The main grandstand of the racecourse was redesigned in 2018, with the roofing being particularly impressive: Designed by architectural firm Grimshaw LLP, a bespoke roof was conceived in which systems from Kalzip played a supporting role.

6000 spectator seats

The new facility is characterised above all by its high level of comfort, which reminds visitors more of a first-class hotel than a sports venue. The brief for Grimshaw Architects – in collaboration with Dublin architects Newenham Mulligan & Associates – was to design a new 6,000-seat grandstand. As part of the masterplan, there was also a desire to accommodate a crowd of up to 30,000 spectators. The new Curragh Grandstand was officially opened in 2019.

Excitement and atmosphere

The redevelopment of the Curragh Grandstand was designed to provide a range of world-class facilities for jockeys, horses and racegoers, while adding excitement and atmosphere. The building consists of stacked horizontal forms combined with an impressive roof structure: surrounded by the typical Irish idyllic landscape, the roof seems to float.

Viewed from above, the cantilevered roof takes on a copper-red colour. The aluminium standing seam profiles from Kalzip, specially manufactured in this colour, serve as a reference to the Irish national language and the agricultural heritage of Kildare. Viewed from the auditorium, the soffit played at least as important a role in the planning: the modern, continuous soffit consists of sinusoidal Kalzip aluminium panels. These in turn ensure a homogeneous and impressive appearance in contrast to the hilly landscape. Several Kalzip geometries were used: Kalzip 65/400 in straight form and 65/conical as well as the matching perforated aluminium sinusoidal profile W18/76.

Floating roof – thanks to Kalzip

There were several reasons for choosing the Kalzip roof. Firstly, the copper-coloured surface matched the design requirements perfectly, and secondly, the geometry of the roof covering and the perforated panels for the soffit could be easily realised with the flexible systems from Kalzip.

The Kalzip team helped to realise a specific composition for the floating roof. The trusses and overhang follow the curved grid and then connect to a series of pillars at the rear of the stand. These in turn are supported by the concrete beams of the lower terraces.

Trevor Smyth, Regional Sales Manager (Midlands, Wales & Ireland) at Kalzip, said: ‘Curragh Racecourse was a fantastic project, particularly because of the importance it has to both the local community and the wider racing community in Ireland. The Kalzip 65/400 solutions specified for the project enabled us to fulfil all the design requirements while helping to resolve issues such as drainage. This is another good example of how flexible Kalzip systems are and how versatile they can be used for architectural services.’

The redevelopment of the Curragh Grandstand and the racecourse in general has been very well received by local residents, as Martin Heydon, TD (Member of Parliament) for Kildare South, said: ‘This is a fantastic day for us here in Kildare. We have the home of flat racing here and to be honest the facilities for punters have not been up to scratch. Today we’re making up for that mistake.’

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