Synthetic turf for intense usage in Lausanne

Some universities may act as hubs for sporting activities in given areas, this is why most of them host sports equipment of the latest generation. The EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne) in Lausanne is one of them.

In order to accommodate the sporting needs of around 30,000 students (including EPFL and UNIL), the university sports complex has been the recipient of significant funds allocation in order to equip students with state-of-the-art sports infrastructures. One of these is the synthetic turf football pitch of the Centre sportif de Dorigny.

This pitch has been serving the students for about 8 years now and has retained its quality as in the early days of its usage. This type of surface was necessary for the intense use it is destined to. Indeed, the huge number of students participating in field sports insures the weekly schedule of the pitch is full. Only synthetic turf was able to resist such intensity in usage, including during winter months in Switzerland.

Moreover, during week-ends and holidays, the pitch is also allocated to local community use. Local sports clubs and associations may play on the field without worries of damaging it and leaving it in a bad state. This synthetic pitch is also designed for other sports than football (rugby, ultimate frisbee for example) and enables this multi-sport use. Without this surface, we could easily imagine the field getting damaged and unfit for use after a few weeks of intense play, which is avoided by the use of synthetic turf.