Hardtgenbuscher Kirchweg school sports facility in Cologne-Ostheim

Bringing color into play

Ostheim is a district of Cologne and primarily a residential area for the nearby industrial locations Kalk and Mülheim. Residential neighborhoods with dense high-rise construction and social housing characterize Ostheim’s appearance. To accommodate the rapidly growing population, a new school center was built on Hardtgenbuscher Kirchweg in 1981, which houses both the Heinrich-Heine-Gymnasium and the Albert-Schweitzer-Realschule. The school complex includes three multipurpose halls and a large outdoor sports facility, which is also used for external sporting events. The outdoor sports facility was extensively renovated and redesigned in 2022/23, featuring various Polytan surfaces. Today, Hardtgenbuscher Kirchweg boasts a large artificial turf field surrounded by an athletics track, facilities for long jump, high jump, shot put, and javelin throw, as well as a multifunctional sports court accommodating handball, basketball, volleyball, and tennis courts.

The large field intended for football was equipped with the Polytan LigaTurf Cross artificial turf system, which combines smooth and textured filaments. Together, these types of fibers form a durable surface with a look and feel almost indistinguishable from natural grass, successfully used in professional sports worldwide. Thanks to the textured filaments, LigaTurf Cross ensures easy and reduced maintenance, better infill stabilization, and higher turf volume. The football field is surrounded by a four-lane running track, which also includes two additional lanes on one side for sprinting. It is designed, along with the javelin throw facility located slightly offside, with Rekortan M in sky blue. Rekortan M is a true high-speed synthetic surface created for peak athletic performance. Its combination of a flexible base layer and solid construction not only provides speed but also guarantees optimal conditions for professional athletes and demanding amateurs. The corners of the track are utilized on one side as a gymnastics area with fitness equipment and high jump facilities, and on the other, for long jump and shot put activities. Both sections also feature Rekortan M but in different colors. The gymnastics area is executed in brown and beige tones, while the long jump area alternates between beige and orange.

In addition to the running track, Polytan SMART was installed, Polytan’s precision system for professional performance diagnostics. The Polytan SMART System includes integrated timing gates—maintenance-free magnetic timing sensors permanently embedded securely into the ground—along with a lightweight sensor weighing only 15 grams and the proven diagnostic software of Polytan partner Humotion. Recreational athletes can also access the system via the free Smart Run by Humotion app, which works with a smartphone worn on the body in a running belt. Analysis and evaluation, such as distance, time, step count, and frequency, are directly provided via the app. In Ostheim, six magnets were embedded into the surface—two in the oval track and four in the sprint track. The multifunctional sports field is based on PolyPlay S, with different colors marking areas for handball, basketball, volleyball, and tennis. The base color is beige, while the handball goal areas on two parallel handball courts are in sky blue. The rectangular zones underneath the basketball baskets of two courts are distinctively orange, and the volleyball surfaces are highlighted in brown. Linings for all four sports are marked in red, yellow, and white.

The Ostheim school sports facility is a testimony to Polytan’s broad portfolio of high-quality sports surfaces, suited for a wide range of requirements. The color design of the multifunctional field, along with its markings, demonstrates that multiple sports can be seamlessly played on a single surface. One thing is certain: in Ostheim, Polytan has brought a splash of color to the game. The sports facility is used for school sports as well as by the SC Köln 2000 e.V., which offers its members a wide variety of sports programs.