Architekturbüro Prinz
Community Centre Owingen
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public buildings
Place
Owingen / Germany
Photos
Prinz Architekturbüro
Description
The building form and roof shape of the new Community Centre take their cue from the structures and materials of the two adjacent buildings: the sports hall, functionally organised with a stucco façade painted in a pale shade, and the school building, a more complex structure with pitched roofs. Set opposite the sports hall, the new building echoes its light stucco façade. This »kinship« allows the area in front of the buildings to be read as a shared forecourt. Toward the north, where the school building is located, as well as on the east and south sides, the new building is supported by visible narrow wooden pillars that subtly correspond with the surrounding trees and the articulation of the school façade. The aim of integrating the new structure carefully, respectfully and yet confidently into its surroundings has thus created a new and stronger ensemble. The Community Centre is entered via the forecourt and through a foyer. The hall can be opened up to the foyer over large expanses. Or it can be closed to create a more sheltered, introverted space – focusing concentration on performances onstage. Wooden flooring was chosen for the hall, with wood panelling on the walls and ceilings and acoustic elements in oak. The result, enhanced by the sloping and symmetrically arranged ceiling surfaces, is a beautiful, festive, identity-building and yet robust interior.