Oriam is Scotland's national performance centre for sport, based at
Heriot-Watt University's
Riccarton Riccarton may refer to:
New Zealand
* Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch
** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it
** The location of Riccarton Race Course
* a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago
Scotlan ...
campus in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
. The
Scottish Rugby Union
The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...
and the
Scottish Football Association use it as a training facility,
Heart of Midlothian F.C.
Heart of Midlothian Football Club, commonly known as Hearts, is a professional football club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Professional Football League. Hearts, the oldest and most successful football club in the S ...
rent the centre for first-team training and to run their academy. It is also used by other sports teams, students and members of the public.
History
A review of Scottish football, led by former First Minister of Scotland
Henry McLeish, picked up on the lack of facilities in Scotland in the first report published in April 2010. In February 2012, Sport Minister Shona Robison announced that £25million from the Scottish Government's Young Scots Fund would be put towards a new multi-sports centre which would include a national football academy. Universities, colleges and local authorities were invited to bid. By August 2013 there were three finalists. In September 2013, it was announced that the design by Reiach & Hall was chosen. The remaining £9million towards the cost of building came from
sportscotland
Sportscotland (officially styled sport), formerly the Scottish Sports Council, is the national agency for sport in Scotland.
The Scottish Sports Council was established in 1972 by royal charter. The body works in partnership with public, pri ...
, Heriot-Watt University and the
City of Edinburgh Council.
Construction work began in March 2015. The £33million facility opened in August 2016. The indoor football pitch is covered by a curved steel frame with a PVC roof, the shape of which has been likened to the trajectory of "the goal which defied physics" which was scored by Brazilian football player
Roberto Carlos
Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his car ...
against
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
in
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
.
The building won the Future Building section at the 2016 Scottish Design Awards.
Sports
The Scottish Rugby Union and the Scottish Football Association have both made long-term commitments to using Oriam ahead of international fixtures.
Heart of Midlothian F.C. use the facility to run their academy and for first-team training. The
Scottish Handball Association
The Scottish Handball Association is the governing body for non-International Handball Federation related matters of team handball in Scotland while the British Handball Association has governance over matters relating to the International Hand ...
,
basketballscotland
basketballscotland is the governing body of the sport of basketball in Scotland. The organisation manages national competitions and runs the Scotland national basketball team. They also have a cup final for all age groups of the course of a ...
and Scottish Netball also use the facility. Furthermore, it is used by the recently formed professional women's team in basketball and handball, both launched in summer 2016.
Unlike some elite performance facilities, Oriam will be available to other sports teams, students and members of the public.
For the 2016–17 season,
Hibernian F.C.
Hibernian Football Club (), commonly known as Hibs, is a professional football club based in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland. The club plays in the Scottish Premiership, the top tier of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). ...
will play their
under-20 fixtures at Oriam.
Facilities
The centre has a FIFA-accredited indoor synthetic
3G pitch
Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commerc ...
which is the largest of its type in Europe.
Its dimensions of 116 yards by 76 yards are the same size as those of
Hampden Park's pitch.
At the midpoint of this playing space, the roof is 28m high and there is a 15m playing height at the sides.
The space accommodates a viewing area that can seat 500 people.
There is also a synthetic pitch outdoors. There are natural surfaces outside too- five grass football pitches and two grass rugby pitches.
Indoors there is a 12-court sports hall, eight squash courts and a four-court sports hall.
Other facilities available on the high-performance side of the centre include a HydroWorx 3500i Series hydrotherapy pool with an integrated treadmill, a rehabilitation area and gym area for strength and conditioning.
A 160-bed hotel is to be located on the site, to open in 2017.
See also
Other indoor football facilities in Scotland:
*
Toryglen Regional Football Centre (Glasgow)
*
Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility
The Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility is a public leisure centre that is located in the Ravenscraig area of Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland.
History
The sports facility first came to attention when plans were being drawn up to for ...
(Motherwell)
*
Aberdeen Sports Village
Aberdeen Sports Village is a sports facility in Aberdeen, Scotland. History
The present athletics track is situated on the site of the Aberdeen Regent Park Greyhound Stadium which later became the Linksfield Stadium and subsequently the Chri ...
(Aberdeen)
References
External links
*
'Snippet' image collectionfor Oriam at
geograph
{{Coord, 55.910, -3.314, display=Oriam
2016 establishments in Scotland
Football academies in Scotland
Football venues in Scotland
Heriot-Watt University
National sports institutions
Sports academies
Sports organizations established in 2016
Sports organisations of Scotland
Sports venues in Edinburgh
Sports medicine in the United Kingdom
National football academies
Scottish Women's Premier League venues
Sports venues completed in 2016