A school sports hall in Wahroonga, Sydney has been shortlisted for the 2016 World Architecture Festival Awards.

The multi-purpose sports hall and field are part of a major redesign of the girls’ school Abbotsleigh by Sydney architecture firm Allen Jack + Cottier.

The facility is designed to have minimal impact on its leafy surrounds.

The Abbotsleigh hall received the William E. Kemp award for Educational Architecture at the 2016 NSW Architecture Awards and is now competing against some of the world’s biggest sports stadiums for an international award.

The project is shortlisted in the completed sports building category at the 2016 World Architecture Awards. The winners will be announced in Berlin in November.

Gallery ( 6 images ) The building is designed to look as though it has always been there.

Environmentally-conscious design

Michael Heenan, director of Allen Jack + Cottier, says a number of tests of the site were conducted to ensure the building will not interfere with the surrounding blue gum trees.

“I went through quite a rigorous process to make sure that this building sits very carefully with the trees on the site,” Heenan says.

“We wanted the building to look like it has always been there. It’s a very large building on the site but then we worked very intently to diminish the (perceived) scale of the building.

“You’re never aware of the size of the building. People walk in and say ‘this is amazing, it’s a large sports hall’ but it just doesn’t look like it (from the outside).”

The sustainable elements of the design include increased natural light, energy conservation and the reuse of rainwater.

“I also decided to float the building slightly above the ground so that the natural ground water would still support the large trees that were down the hill from the building,” Heenan says.

Heenan has confidence that the Abottsleigh building could take home the award – despite the caliber of sports buildings it is up against.

“We see it as the little building that just might do it,” he says.

“Sometimes the inherent quality of the building can get it across the line.”