Gimse Idrettshall – Mass timber sports hall

Gimse Idrettshall is a project of a mass timber sports hall built on top of a concrete parking garage in Melhus kommune in Norway, designed as an extension of the existing Melhushallen. 

The main supporting structure consists of glulam trusses with spans of 35 meters supported by glulam columns., with a height of 12 meters. To insure the horizontal stability of the structure there are steel crossed braces in the roof level, which transfer loads to vertical steel braces and CLT 140 mm panels.

The hall contains a total of 9 glulam trusses. Each of them is connected in two parts on the construction site due to transport. The trusses are up to 400 × 760 mm in size. 

To ensure the horizontal stability of the structure, there are steel cross girders at the roof level that transfer loads to vertical steel girders and CLT 140 mm panels.

The use of mass timber in the Gimse Idrettshall project helps to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the building, as well as providing excellent insulation and structural performance.

Another unique feature of the Gimse Idrettshall project is the use of a hybrid structure, which combines the mass timber structure with a concrete parking garage underneath. This required careful coordination between the design team and the contractors to ensure that the two structures were properly connected and integrated. Despite the challenges, the final result is a highly efficient and cost-effective solution that meets the needs of the community while minimizing environmental impact.

The most challenging aspects of this project are its high fire protection requirements and connection of the timber structure to the concrete structure of the parking garage underneath.

Building is designed, produced and assembled during 2021- 2022.