Riaz, Switzerland, 2018

Stops balls, looks great: nearly invisible ball stop fences with Webnet

Ball stop fence, High School Riaz

Ball catching nets are primarily designed with a view on functionality. But Webnet does not force planners to compromise on the side of design. In Riaz, this enabled nature to become a part of the sports ground.

Combining the school with its surrounding landscape

The new high school of the region Gruyére in Riaz features a spacious sports ground where the pupils can play various ball sports. Like a picture frame, the frames of the two ball catching nets enclose the spectacular landscape of the Gruyère region. The architects wanted to connect the school with its surrounding landscape. Thanks to its elegant structure and the possibility to colour it in all shades, Webnet by Jakob Rope Systems was the natural choice for the task as a ball catching net.

Webnet for ball catching nets: aesthetic, quiet, maintenance free

Because the spectrally applied black color is particularly hard to spot for the human eye and Webnet in its sleeveless variety has a very high light transmission, it fills the frame structure as a ball catching net without obstructing the sight. But there are further properties that make Webnet a superior choice over conventional wire meshes for ball catching nets: its interwoven structure reduces the noise created by shocks to a minimum. And being made out of stainless steel by Jakob Rope Systems in Switzerland it is virtually maintenance free and keeps its good looks for a long time.

Builder: Association des Communes de la Gruyère pour l’Ecole du Cycle d’Orientation
Architects: Graeme Mann & Patricia Capua Mann, MCM Architects, Lausanne