Casa del Deporte, Modern sports facility in Chile

Casa del Deporte is a heritage building of the Universidad de Concepción on its central campus, inaugurated in 1944 together with the Campanil. The architect Enrique San Martín Sepúlveda built most of it in 1941–1942 in a modernist style: smooth white walls without ornament, a rain canopy over the entrance and circular porthole windows, the only curves in a structure of solid volumes and right angles. Inside are the Gimnasio A and Gimnasio B, a tennis court, a bicycle room and a multipurpose room.

The Casa del Deporte was planned within the central campus scheme that Karl Brunner drew up for the Universidad de Concepción in 1931, at the initiative of Enrique Molina Garmendia. The architect Enrique San Martín Sepúlveda built it mostly between 1941 and 1942, and it opened in 1944 together with the Campanil, during the VII Olimpiadas Universitarias Nacionales hosted by the university. From 1957 Emilio Duhart set a new campus plan in which a covered forum was intended for this spot but never built.

The building has hosted cultural events, large gatherings and concerts alongside sport since 1944. It is the home venue of Club Deportivo Universidad de Concepción, mainly for basketball, and its gyms, tennis court, bicycle room and multipurpose room serve the university community's recreational and extracurricular programmes.

The building sits slightly diagonal to its neighbours because the old stretch of Calle Víctor Lamas once ran past it; today Avenida Augusto Rivera Parga, one of the campus's main vehicle entrances, passes in front. Inside are Gimnasio A and Gimnasio B, a tennis court, a bicycle room and a multi-use room, with a food casino on the first floor and extracurricular activities on the second.

The building's slightly diagonal orientation to its neighbours is a trace of the old extension of Calle Víctor Lamas where it met Calle Roosevelt; the street that now runs in front is Avenida Augusto Rivera Parga, one of the campus's main vehicle entrances. The Luis David Cruz Ocampo Archive keeps its remodelling plans, Gymnasium A escape drawings, iron window details and rowing training tanks.