Rubb Fabric Building News

Rubb Hall AS, the Norwegian branch of Rubb, is a proud sponsor of the Nordnes Idrettslag Handball Team. This is a girl’s and women’s handball group with teams incorporating athletes from age 7 and up. The team is located in the city center of Bergen, Norway.

Rubb has supported the team with purchases of team suits and other equipment throughout the season, which is particularly appreciated in these tough economic times. You can learn more about the team and Rubb’s partnership by visiting the teams website.

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In September, 2008 Rubb Buildings Ltd designed, supplied and delivered a 42m span by 39.5m long special BVC Sports Hall for the Stourport Sports Club’s new indoor Netball courts.

Rubb undertook the design and manufacture of the aesthetically pleasing structure that had been awarded through a tender process. This is the third dedicated Netball structure that Rubb has delivered in the past 2 years.

This particular building proved challenging because of the “overhanging eaves and verge features” that had been specified by the project architect. The eaves of the structure overhang the building sidewalls by 1.5m, and the gable verges of the structure are a reducing curve; projecting 2.8m at the structure apex, reducing down and mating with the eaves projections at the sidewall.

Rubb Buildings Ltd also supplied the structure complete with sinusoidal horizontal steel cladding to a height of 3m, this provided extra security to the sports hall. Rubb was also responsible for the design and installation of the ventilation system, the main entrance doors, internal rebound walls, and the foam protection to the vertical structural steel members.

The PVC Coated polyester fabric membrane has been designed and supplied to the architects specification, the gable sheets actually have 40mm wide dark grey “pinstripes” running vertically through the white sections, the grey and blue sections have been designed to create additional features to this extremely good looking building.

Learn more about our sports buildings

Among the more interesting uses of Rubb buildings is in the construction of horse riding enclosures. While the traditional barn still remains very popular, several features of Rubb buildings make them very appealing for housing horses.

For example, the translucent roof creates a very pleasant interior environment which reduces interior daylight needs and is comforting both horse and rider alike. As with all Rubb structures, the buildings are rapidly erected and can be built on challenging sites and partial foundations.

Aesthetically, a Rubb horse riding enclosure can look like one of our standard buildings in signature Rubb blue, or be customized to fit into a regional environment or to match existing buildings. One especially interesting example was when Rubb worked with Ironstone Farm Founder Richard Donovan to create a riding enclosure for Challenge Unlimited that resembled a traditional New England style barn.

Whether you are looking for an independent enclosure for professional horse riding, a convenient and flexible expansion to an existing building, or a versatile facility suitable both for stabling and riding, a Rubb sports building is a perfect solution.

Rubb is pleased to join the U.S. Soccer Foundation, the major charitable arm of soccer in the United States, in annoucing a multi-year partnership. Rubb is the official partner for indoor soccer facilities, and will provide support through grants, engineering expertise and discounts to grassroots soccer organizations.

Rubb buildings make an ideal sport facility because of their ease of construction, flexibility, and comfortable indoor environment. Rubb buildings can be designed to be exclusively a soccer environment, or to host a variety of indoor sports activities such as lacrosse, tennis, baseball, field hockey or rugby. Rubb sports buildings can be customized with a variety of options such as bleachers, space dividers and diverse indoor lighting set-ups.

Rubb buildings can also be attached together in spans for multi-building set-ups or integrated with traditional buildings based on the needs of the site, such as with the Magherafelt sports arena which attaches to a brick and block built amenities facility with changing rooms, bar, reception and storage areas.

“We are excited to work with the Foundation and its Community Partners,” said Dave Nickerson, President of Rubb, Inc. “Our innovative and highly cost effective sports structures will provide Grantees with the opportunity to train year-round in a protected environment.”

The new state of the art Meadowbank Sport Arena, at 70mx145m and with sidewalls of 9m, is currently the largest of its kind in Europe. Designed to bring sports facilities into the 21st century, this top regional venue situated in Magherafelt in the heart of Mid-Ulster, Northern Ireland can now provide the widest range of indoor and outdoor facilities for sports.

The arena’s indoor synthetic surface measures 137m x 70m on which a whole host of sporting activities can take place simultaneously. The space can be quickly divided by use of rebound boards which are removable at court positions — for example, it can cater for a full size hockey/soccer pitch, plus 4 mini-pitches (all 4 badminton court sized). Rubb’s sophisticated electrical netting system allows the court to be expanded so that the full space can be used. Alternatively, it can also accommodate an indoor 300m track. All sports set-ups are complemented with seating for 450 spectators on a first floor gallery located along one sidewall and one gable end.

Like all Rubb buildings, the backbone to the Meadowbank Sport Arena is a well engineered structural framing system. Post production hot dip galvanizing of all welded components provides the best corrosion protection in the industry with the truss frame construction creating the platform for the clear span and high vertical walls. The exterior has been built with a combination of brick, goosewing gray, steel clad walls (Kingspan material) and high strength architectural fabric. To maintain the external appearance of the building, a system of rainwater gutters were included along the 145m sidewalls.

The use of white semi translucent roof fabric provides a light, bright airy atmosphere to the building. All services are fully integrated with the lighting, ventilation and demudification system providing the perfect sports environment.

The arena features a traditional three level brick and block built amenities facility, comprising of changing rooms, bar, reception, simple storage and a viewing gallery located on the top floor completed by the main contractor FP McCann. The centre is also fully accessible to wheelchair users and special needs groups.

Outdoors, the new arena offers a 400m, 6 lane synthetic athletics track, facilities for associated field events, sand based soccer and gaelic/rugby pitches; outdoor Astroturf/2 tennis courts, children’s play area and pavilion along with additional car parking. All outdoor facilities are floodlit and offer a secure setting with excellent provision for spectators and visitors.

In addition to providing this impressive array of sporting activities, the arena provides Magherafelt City Council with a multi-functional building which has the flexibility to host exhibitions, regional sports competitions, national tournaments and other events.

Rubb has recently completed a new leisure and conference facility in the North East of England for the Blue Flames Sporting Club at Longbenton, Newcastle upon Tyne.

Awarded from tender, the client had been very impressed with Rubb’s highly successful sporting complex for West Bromwich Albion Football Club, which included an Indoor Training Facility and a Community Sports Hall. Construction of the Blue Flames Sports and Leisure building was built on land adjacent to the Newcastle United Indoor Football Centre, another one of Rubb’s premier sports structures.

At 47m wide x 66m in length with sidewalls of 8.5m, the facility comprises of one large sporting arena, which can be quickly divided by netting into four separate courts, allowing the space to used for a range of different activities. The Blue Flames Sporting Club is home to The Tyne and Wear Netball Association as well as supporting a range of tennis and cricket clubs, with the indoor cricket nets providing a much needed modern sports resource for the area. The club is also used on a regular basis for indoor soccer coaching for children. The club is available to hire by the general public for sports use and for a variety of functions, with the unique reverse curve roof design creating the space to accommodate a reception area, fully licensed bar, changing rooms, toilets and treatment facilities all within the overall structure.

The reverse curved roof provided a challenging construction problem with Rubb having to ensure a seamless curve on both the steel framework and the PVC cladding. One of the key features of these indoor facilities is the natural light allowed in through the semi-translucent roof. This natural lighting not only saves on energy costs but also provides a lighter, brighter and more appealing sports activity environment than provided by other structures.

A recent article in the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon pointed towards an activity that’s becoming very popular in gyms across America — indoor rock climbing. Taking the rugged sport of rock climbing and moving it indoors has opened up a dangerous and challenging sport and made it more family friendly, and enticed a whole generation of kids who are less keen on ball sports such as baseball, basketball and football (both the American and European versions).

The key requisite for the sport is, of course, that it’s inside, and the quality of the facility plays a tremendous role in the quality of the experience. Our indoor sports buildings are particularly well adapted for rock climbing due to the immense amount of natural light and roomy ceiling spans. While typically we see our buildings used for tennis, soccer, gymnastics and basketball, rock climbing is certainly among the many options available in a Rubb sports building and a single structure could accommodate the sport alongside courts for many other activities.

The Statesman Journal article stresses how rock climbing is a “cerebral sport,” but notes how many indoor climbers will never test their skills in the wilderness. With greater convenience, safety, and accessibility, it’s easy to see how families and recreational climbers could easily be enticed to practice their skills in the comfort of an indoor facility — especially one as comfortable as one produced by Rubb Building Systems.