Barkow Leibinger

Barkow Leibinger
Schillerstraße 94, D–10625 Berlin
T +49(0)30 315712 -0 F -29
info@barkowleibinger.com
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Palmer Motorsports Park, Massachusetts

The paddock building is a pilot project in the context of a master plan for a new racetrack located in a topographically complex site near Palmer in western Massachusetts. The track is available to all classes of racing with the exception of Formula 1 and anticipates evolving to electric motor racing within the decade. Both the paddock building and the track master plan are planned sustainably. The site for the track also includes biking and walking trails. The track itself is used to generate electricity through Peltier elements imbedded in the track. Additionally wind and pumped water running through a turbine generate electricity. The paddock building integrates photovoltaic panels with natural ventilation systems combined with fast-growth wood glue-lam constructions systems.

The paddock is a long lineal building which houses a series of garages and shops at the ground level for repair and sponsor display of the cars and teams. Upper levels are designated for press, race control, and VIP lounges including a large outdoor terrace facing the track area. A pedestrian bridge is integrated into the building offering a connection over the track to spectator areas organized in open meadows and to a hotel to be constructed in a later phase. A series of existing wetlands are left untouched and integrated into the scheme. Planted and terraced retaining walls accommodate the track contours and level changes within the contoured site.

The building section of glu-lam timber is angular, dynamic and incrementally changes over its 400-foot length. A back-lot courtyard is formed by the building, which backs up to a terraced landscape. This space is used for shows and pre-race festivities. The construction is intended as pre-fabricated timber frames clad in a metal standing-seam skin on a concrete slab on-grade.

Project Information

Architects – Barkow Leibinger, Berlin, Frank Barkow, Regine Leibinger

 

Team Design – Flavio Stigliano, Frédéric Beaupère, Shusuke Inoue, Patrick Delahoy, Gabriel Warshafsky

 

Program
Paddock Building, Race track, Hotel, Landscape

 

Location
Palmer, Massachussetts USA

 

Planning
2009

Structural Engineer

Arup, Berlin

 

Mechanical Engineer

Transsolar Energietechnik GmbH, Stuttgart