Located in the Diagonal Mar i el Front Marítim neighborhood of Poblenou in Barcelona, the La Mar Bella sports hall is more than just a sports center: its Olympic pedigree, large size, and use for school sports have made it a benchmark for the city's sports facilities. After the previous PVC flooring reached the end of its useful life, the Institut Barcelona Esports (IBE) of the City of Barcelona entrusted Mondo with the renovation of the sports surface. A few days ago, the hall was equipped with Powerplay P1 flooring, a system renowned for its excellent athletic performance and resistance to intensive use. All this without sacrificing the safety and comfort of athletes, as the system offers impact absorption of over 25%.
Powerplay P1: What is the new sports floor like?
The La Mar Bella sports hall installed 2,477 square meters of Powerplay P1, with a total thickness of 8 millimeters. This system combines a 3 mm rubber surface with 4.7 mm Everlay Protection.
✔ What do these two components provide?
Athlete safety is another key aspect of the Powerplay P1 system, which guarantees an impact absorption level of over 25% (P1 classification according to the UNE-EN 14904 standard).
Before installing the new floor, the old PVC covering was removed and the sub-base was adjusted and leveled.
The characteristics of the Powerplay P1 flooring make it an ideal solution for facilities that host training and matches for multiple sports, even those requiring intensive use.
In the case of the La Mar Bella sports hall, thanks to its large size, multiple sports fields were laid out to allow for the simultaneous practice of:
The quality and multi-sport performance of the Powerplay P1 flooring are recognized by several international sports federations:
✔ FIBA – Level 2 for synthetic sports surfaces
✔ IHF – International Handball Federation
✔ FIFA Quality – for futsal surfaces
✔ IVS-Tested by FIVB - International Volley Federation
Furthermore, Powerplay is designed to be an environmentally responsible sports flooring:
Designed by architects Manuel Ruisánchez and Xavier Vendrell, the La Mar Bella sports hall was inaugurated on April 30, 1992, to host the badminton tournament of the Barcelona Olympic Games.
The building is located next to the seafront, on the site of a former athletics track.
After the Games, the sports hall became a municipal sports facility for public use. Since 2010, the La Mar Bella sports hall has been managed by the Consell Escolar de Barcelona (CEEB), an organization dedicated to the promotion and organization of school sports and other competitions such as the Carrera de la Mujer, the Challenge Barcelona Triathlon, and the Deka Spartan Race.
Over the years, this complex has become one of the most popular and important sports centers in the city for young people.
The La Mar Bella arena is part of the Olympic legacy of the 1992 Games, like another of Barcelona's most iconic sports venues: the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium.
During that memorable summer, the stadium's athletics track was equipped with the Sportflex athletics track, and in 2010 it was resurfaced with Mondotrack for the European Athletics Championships.