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The National Sports and Culture Centre d'Coque ''(),'' better known simply as d'Coque, () is a sporting and cultural venue with an
indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...
and Olympic-sized swimming pool, amongst other facilities, in Kirchberg, a quarter of
Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...
, in
Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
. More recently it has expanded into providing onsite hotel services, and acting as a conference venue.


History


Planning

Plans for an ambitious national sports venue, as part of wider national sports programme in Luxembourg began in the 1960s with a stated aim of the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
of the time being to compete in the international arena, where it was believed it could make a name for itself. On 12 July 1969, the then Minister of Physical Education and Sports, Gaston Thorn, organised a roundtable with stakeholders, where the most preeminent view was that modern sports facilities should be available and easily accessible to athletes and civil society in Luxembourg of all levels and ages. In February 1974, French architect Roger Taillibert presented his bold plans for futuristic swimming pool and sporting arena, which captured the spirit of the Luxembourg state's desire to construct a public landmark dedicated to its national sporting ambitions and open to civil society at large. State planners decided to construct the venue on the Kirchberg plateau, which at the time was largely undeveloped former farmland. Amongst other reasons for the decision, was the cheap and readily available land, the desire for urban development of the area, and an ambition to keep and further attract the
European Communities The European Communities (EC) were three international organizations that were governed by the same set of Institutions of the European Union, institutions. These were the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Atomic Energy Co ...
(now
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
)
institutions An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain social behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and ...
located there. The sporting complex was divided into an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and an
indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...
. Most strikingly, the venues, wrought of glass, pre-stressed concrete and wood, were to be encased in and connected via six giant shell or upside-down-hull copper roof structures from which the French name, ''d'Coque'' derived. Tallibert's designs were heavily informed by his then ongoing works on the Montreal Olympic Park, for the
1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...
. Similarities in design, materials and architectural style are particularly visible when comparing d'Coque with his work on Montreal's Olympic pool,
stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...
and velodrome (since refurbished as a biodome).


Construction

The project was divided into two stages, with priority given to the swimming pool, on which construction began in 1974. Initial construction work was dogged by a rumour in the national press that the olympic pool did not meet the international requirements for a length of 50 metres owing to miscalculations in the planning stage. Though this later proved to be untrue, significant delays were incurred with the swimming pool inaugurated behind schedule on 14 April 1982. However, the controversy was short-lived with residents, sports professional and amateurs alike enthralled with the quality of the facilities. Throughout the 80's, owing to the economic climate, state funds were not readily available for work on the second phase of the project. In addition, residents, politicians and planners had expressed a desire for amendments to the plans to be made to permit the indoor athletics arena to be utilised not only as a sporting arena, but a cultural venue as well. Following a turnaround in Luxembourg's finances, the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
approved the allocation of some 2.5 billion
francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' ( King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centur ...
, (62 million euros) for the second phase. Work began in earnest in 1997, with then Minister of Public Works, Robert Goebbels and Minister of Sports, Georges Wohlfart taking part in the breaking ground ceremony. In 2000, the now officially named "National Sports and Culture Centre d'Coque" was given legal personality as a public body requisite to complete its objectives. The new building, which included renovations to the swimming pool and existing structures, to allow their seamless integration, was completed in 2002. It included, aside from the additional athletics and cultural venue, spa, physiotherapy and catering facilities, as well as lodgings for competing athletes.


FondsKirchberg

Works on the second phase coincided with other developments on the Kirchberg, promoted by the ''FondsKirchberg'' (), an
urban development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of peop ...
body. This included the development of the N51 expressway, which bordered the south of the sports centre into the beautified Avenue John F. Kennedy, with two separated bus lanes (one later converted into a tram lane) and wide pedestrian
sidewalk A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English, South African English), or footpath (Hiberno-English, Irish English, Indian English, Australian English, New Zealand English) is a path along the side of a road. Usually constr ...
s providing easy public access to the venue. The relocation of the European School of Luxembourg to a new Kirchberg site was also underway, and the decision was made to landscape the territory in between d'Coque and the new campus to provide a
public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...
, with an artificial lake and water features, and a small open-air
amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...
.


Venue


Cultural events

The d'Coque indoor arena can be converted into a cultural venue, with retractable seating that can be extended over the athletics floor to permit audiences closer access to the stage. The complex has played host to a number of notable figures including the Dalai Lama's official visit to Luxembourg, and
Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
.


Sports events

In 2013,
Games of the Small States of Europe The Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) is a biennial multi-sport event, launched by the Republic of San Marino, organized by and featuring the National Olympic Committees of nine European small state, small states since 1985. The Games a ...
(GSSE) which saw athletes from the nine member countries of the GSSE compete in eleven disciplines.


References


External links


d'Coque official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Coque Sports venues in Luxembourg City Music venues in Luxembourg City Indoor arenas in Luxembourg Basketball venues in Luxembourg Volleyball venues in Luxembourg