Magpies 3D Architectural Design : 10/01/2012

October 31, 2012

A House Awaiting Death | EASTERN design office

A House Awaiting Death by Japanese studio EASTERN design office is an interesting project name for an owner who will die in 15 years, the house is elevated from the ground and capturing the sea view framed by the waving opening which was inspired by the blue butterfly.

What we wanted to capture in this architecture was how to appreciate the appearance of waves. How can architecture showcase the waves and make them appear? It is not just a building with an ocean-view, but a place to observe the ever changing waves… We are not only designing a house, but are creating the port from which his liberated mind will depart across the ocean. This is what our work must encompass.

EASTERN design office

+ Project description courtesy of EASTERN design office

1 A house of rising sun

"A house awaiting death," the client said to us.

"I will die in 15 years. It will be a house awaiting that death. The building is fine as long as it lasts 15 years. Something small would be good."

"I have found the place." A patch of land on a peninsula facing East. "I' m glad the land faces East. I hate the sunset."

"When I die it won' t be sunset, it will be sunrise. When the final moment comes, I will face the sea and depart on a ship flashing towards death. It' ll be a time revealed after death."

This is what the client ordered for his house. A view of the magnificent sea in the east where the sun rises. This is the land he chose to live out his final years.

A four-meter wide gravel and dirt road runs in front of the site. On the other side of the road is a park-golf course where several elderly neighbors enjoy their leisure time. There is a seashore behind the breakwater wall. If this were a standard house the sea would barely be visible from the site.

The client said to us, "The floor of this house must be raised, so you are the right architects to design such a house."

Suddenly, towards that seashore, towards the seacoast, we faced.

On this map the route is a 180 km journey each way. Our chests brimming with anticipation and hope.

2 Sea

The distance from the site to the waves is only 150 meters. The breadth of the beach extends for 7 kilometers. The sea is boundless.

"Are you going to live alone?" we asked the client. He said, "Alone. Sometimes I want to call over friends." Then after returning to solitude, "I want to hear the crash of a wave."

His request was for a house awaiting death, for the moment when life is extinguished, not the sunset, but the desire to see the sunrise. We always remember the depth of those words that came from a single person.

He wants to anchor his life before he sails away from the sea coast flashing towards an unknown shore. This is the house we are going to design.

How do we interpret his message?

We are not only designing a house, but are creating the port from which his liberated mind will depart across the ocean. This is what our work must encompass.

Therefore, this house sees waves. We want to make you think that the waves part of the interior of the house. It is not simply a house open to the sea. We were not satisfied to design a house with a sea view just because the seacoast is a mere 150 meters away. The sea must be incorporated into the open space of the house.

This form draws in waves. This window captures waves. In this house. Waves … are never the same throughout the day….

Opening the doors of this house we are surprised that "Ah, this type of wave appears today." We designed it this way to appreciate the appearance of waves

How does one see a wave?

It is not a boundless steady blue ocean. The tide, bubbles, and grains of sand are constantly emerging. Unsteady waves, the solitude and calmness of a placeless and solitary man, these are what we want to capture in this new house.

Everyone knows it is not a vague and limitless sea. It is also not an horizon. The sea is "the appearance of waves".

People want to know the meaning of the sea.

The architecture will reveal this meaning.

3 Blue butterfly

The Site is 440 m2. Floor space is 73m2. It is a house facing the East. The following is a brief list of postures that a person assumes when watching the waves:

Watch the waves while swaying in a rocking chair

Watch the waves to observe them while eating and drinking wine.

Watch the waves and sink into them while sitting on a couch.

Watch the waves alongside your body as you walk around the room.

Watch them while talking and rolling in laughter with friends

Watch the waves coming to water' s edge while reclining on the wooden lounge,

These tangible activities and the places they occur governed the form of the architecture. The way to appreciate the appearance of waves can be designed based on this comprehensive drawing of the house. It was drawn in such way.

This is a floor plan incorporating the details of the comprehensive drawing.

Each posture is different –> Different heights necessary to capture the waves –> Various shapes of windows –> changing appearance of the waves

Yet these are all the same. Waves will penetrate your eyes, chest and shoulders when you are in it.

The plan takes V-shape that will draw the waves. In other word it is expected to open to the waves. Slits are cut on a V-shaped wall. Through the edge of slits, watch and listen to the waves while lying on a wooden lounge or while standing and cooking. (This time we did not incorporate slits on the exterior wall, but use them on a symbolic interior wall.)

This form was born from the client' s request, "When the final moment comes, I will face the sea and depart on a ship flashing towards death".

In an imaginary ocean, there is not necessarily a single sun.

You are amongst many suns. The fact is that you cannot go beyond the sea allows you to have an illusion. Symbolizing the spirit of navigability people used to have. To embody such notion, to ease up the fear of death, anchors are set to this architecture.

It was our intention to symbolize an outlaw who has lived a life of relentless rage and a voyage with ready to depart with anchors aweigh.

The disposition of a man who has unfastened an anchor is light. Suppose a dream he dreams is a butterfly. The image of him swinging in the rocking chair shall be deemed as a butterfly.

A blue butterfly is a symbol of the blue ocean. It also symbolizes people going to fly in a free manner. The blue wings of a butterfly were designed into the windows.

The blue we find there is the same blue of the ocean.

It is also a wavering light of the waves which can be seen when looking up the surface of ocean from the bottom of the sea.

Radiant sun rising from the east.

The sea and a butterfly

A man ascending up to the sparkling surface of the sea.

What is the ocean? It is a wave. "When the final moment comes, I will face the rising sun and depart on a ship flashing towards death. At that moment the imaginary sun is not one. There are many suns. In the imaginary world he becomes a butterfly.

The blue wings of a butterfly are the waves of a blue ocean. Looking up from the sea floor there is a sparkling ocean. These images are shaped into the form which is fit for a man who lives between the sea and a single room.

The rocking chair is set at the top of the V point. It is the center of his entire sea.

Food and wine can be enjoyed from a plank projecting from a wall. It is a small piece of deck that has drifted here from

somewhere far off.

Lean back into a sofa and be embraced by the waves. Sitting cross-legged and facing ahead to the restless waves.

Capture the sea and the waves that crash one after another while walking.

Be with friends during the summer season that everyone enjoys.

Reclining and watching waves while dozing off.

There are two central windows inside the room and they are lapped over each other.

There are two walls overlapping each other. Two openings are made on them with different shape.

These two overlap each other between the rocking chair and the sea and make into one form.

Like squeezing a wet cloth with both hands, these two different shapes of windows crop the blue seascape. Like a drop of water, waves appear from these different window shapes.

We sometimes still ponder why this client could give us such an request. Is it the death of his friend or is it his underlying nature that had planted him an idea of his house. We do not care whatever underlies in him. There is a fact that we had such an order from him and we have to comply with his message. On this process we find the possibility of architects. There must a form that is embodied by strangers. The two shapes into one form. In the form, everything changes like undulating waves. This architecture enhances human sensitivity.

A candle stand is set between the overlapped walls and windows. Candles are lit at dawn along the horizon that connects the sea, sunrise, waves and the client' s chaise. The fire waits for the sunrise of that singular day.

This reminds us a text written by Chinese Philosopher Zhuangzi.

"In a dream Soushu somehow became a butterfly. He was too content to be a butterfly floating in a comfort manner forgetting that he was Soushu. Before long he awoke up himself and he knows that he is without doubt Soushu. Well, what is this? Did Shoshu become a butterfly, or a butterfly become Shusho in his dream? There must be a distinction. This must be a materialization (all everything is in a state of flux.)"

Are we insane, or is the client mad? Is this reality? Is it a dream?

The dawn of 14th of February. From 06:12 to 07:06. Let us explain the unbelievable 54 minutes we had. East is where the sun rises. It means beginning. The sun rises and a new day begins.

The house built in response to the client' s request, "I want you to build me a house awaiting death" is a house where a new "beginning" can be seen each day.

+ Project credits / data

Architect: EASTERN design office

Project: A House Awaiting Death

Location: Ise Penninsula, Japan

Photograper: Koichi Torimrua

+ All images and drawings courtesy EASTERN design office | Photo by Koichi Torimrua

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October 30, 2012

IT University in Ørestaden | Henning Larsen Architects

Danish architectural practice Henning Larsen Architects has designed the IT University in Ørestaden, Denmark. The masterplan for the area is based on a north-south-going, linear structure. This basic structure is designed as three strips conveying three different urban themes. The strips are intersected by roads on the transverse axis from Amager Fælledvej. Connections between the buildings lie on the transverse axis perpendicular to the open, landscaped areas.

The IT University appears open and inviting – forming a frame around students, professors and researchers of the university; a building in spatial dialogue with its surroundings and, at the same time, responding to the city by opening up and letting university activities interact as an asset to the neighbouring space.

The concept of the design of the university is that of a spatial network – a web in which each function is placed in a three-dimensional position around a central panopticon. The hall at the reception area offers a complete view of the university. From here it appears as a buzzing, spatial structure in which activities on all levels communicate with each other and with the common facilities located at ground level.

The entire volume has a metal skin stretching around the two long buildings and the central panopticon. The eastern and western facades have open glass screens with different degrees of opacity/transparency. Some of them are etched or silk-screen printed, others open as vents to work alongside an overall climatic strategy for the building.

+ Project Data / credits

Project: IT University http://www.itu.dk/

Location: Ørestaden, Denmark

Client: Ministry of Education

Construction period: 2001-2004

Gross floor area: 19,000 m2

Project value: 27.6 mill. GBP

Type of assignment: 1st prize in invited competition, 2000

Architect: Henning Larsen Architects

Engineer: Carl Bro

Landscape architect: Svend Kierkegaard

Cost: 42 Mio €

Photos: Adam Mork / Copyright: Henning Larsen Architects

Awards: Leaf Award 2005 New Build, Leaf Award 2005 Overall Winner

+ All images, drawings and description courtesy Henning Larsen Architects

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October 29, 2012

Museum Aan de Stroom (MAS) | Neutelings Riedijk Architects

Dutch architectural practice Neutelings Riedijk Architects designed the Museum Aan de Stroom (MAS) located in between the old docks in the heart of "Het Eilandje". This old port area is the major urban renewal project in the center of Antwerp and is developing as a vibrant new city district.

The MAS is designed as a sixty-meter-high tower. Ten gigant natural stone boxes are piled up as a physical demonstration of the gravity of history, full of historical objects that our ancestors left behind. It is a storehouse of history in the heart of the old docks.

Each floor of the tower is twisted a quarter turn, so that creates a huge spiral staircase. This spiral space, which is bordered by a wall of corrugated glass, is a public city gallery. A route of escalators carry visitors up from the square to the top of the tower. The spiral tower tells the story of the city, its port, and its inhabitants.

At each floor the visitor can enter the museum hall and go into the history of the dead city, while on his way to top breathtaking panoramas of the living city itself unfolds. At the top of the tower are a restaurant, a party room and a panoramic terrace, where the present is celebrated and the future planned.

Façades, floors, walls and ceilings of the tower were completely covered with large slabs of red Indian sandstone hand cleaved, making the image of a monumental stone sculpture. The four colors of the stone slabs based on a computerized pattern are dividend on the façade.

The spiral gallery is lined with a huge curtain of corrugated glass. With its play of light and shadow, transparency and translucency of the undulating glass facade brings a lighthearted counterweight to the gravity of the stone sculpture.

To soften the monumental tower volume a pattern of metal ornaments has been put like a veil over the façade. The ornaments are shaped like hands, the logo of the City of Antwerp. Inside the building, this pattern continued through metal medallions, molded by a design of Tom Hautekiet with a text of Tom Lanoye.

The Museum square at the foot of the tower is an integral part of the design. The square is decorated in the same red stone as the tower and surrounded by pavilions and terraces, as an urban space for events and outdoor exhibitions. The central part of the square is half sunken and forms a framework for a large mosaic of Luc Tuymans.

+ Full architectural description courtesy Neutelings Riedijk Architects

LOCATION

The Eilandje [The Islet]

The new MAS | Museum aan de Stroom [Museum by the River] is located in the centre of the district called 'Eilandje', the old harbour district by the centre of the old city. This district was originally called 'Nieuwstad [New City]', as it was the first city expansion constructed by land speculator and urban developer Gilbert van Schoonbeke (1519-1556) outside the Spanish fortress belt in the sixteenth century. The name Eilandje stems from the fact that this area was surrounded by water on four sides, so that it actually was an island when the bridges were up.

The Hansahuis

In the old days, the Hansahuis or Oosterhuis stood where MAS stands now. This was the economic seat and warehouse of the Hansa towns in Antwerp built in 1568. It was one of the most important buildings in the city for three centuries, until it burned down in 1893. An extensive archaeological study was made by the City archaeological department before construction of the MAS begun, during which the old foundations were mapped.

The old docks

The Willemdok and the Bonapartedok are the two oldest harbour docks of Antwerp, dug in the beginning of the eighteenth century under the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte and King Willem I. Since the Hansahuis was too important to be demolished, a spit of land remained between the docks, which is the central location where the MAS stands today.

Urban regeneration

Due to the withdrawal of the harbour activities to bigger harbours north of the city, the once so lively harbour district degenerated and was depopulated. The city has worked very hard on urban development upgrading in the past ten years. The selection of the location for the MAS was therefore a conscious choice as leverage in urban regeneration. Urban regeneration is currently in full swing and the district is regaining its liveliness.

The future of the Eilandje

In the meantime, several large public functions have been added to the Eilandje such as the Flemish Ballet Company, the City archive in the Felixpakhuis and the future migration museum in the old Red Star Line buildings. Old warehouses are being converted into lofts everywhere, and new apartment buildings such as the Koninklijk Entrepot by Berlin architect Hans Kolhoff, the residential towers by Swiss architects Diener en Diener and the towers by David Chipperfield and Guyer en Gigon, as well as many projects yet to follow, are being erected. The estimate is that 5000 new residents will move to the Eilandje in the next few years.

Outdoor construction around the MAS

The quays round the old docks have been renovated on the basis of an idea of French landscape architect Michel Desvigne. An underground car park has been constructed under the Godefriduskaai so that the quays are now car-free walking areas with restaurants and terraces. A few years ago, the Willemdok was turned into a yacht harbour for visitors passing through Antwerp. The Bonapartedok will be converted into a museum dock with historical ships in the next few years.

ARCHITECTURE

The location

The MAS | Museum aan de Stroom stands between the old docks in the centre of the Eilandje. This old harbour area is the most important city renovation project in the centre of Antwerp and is in full development as a new dazzling city district.

The building

The MAS was designed as a sixty-metre high tower. Ten gigantic natural stone trunks are piled up as a physical demonstration of the heaviness of history, full of historical objects that are the legacy of our ancestors. It is a storehouse of stacked history in the middle of the old harbour docks. Every storey of the tower has been rotated a quarter turn, creating a gigantic spiral staircase. This spiral space, in which a facade of corrugated glass is inserted, forms a public city gallery.

The spiral route

A route of escalators leads the visitors up from the square up to the top of the tower. The story of the city, its harbour and inhabitants is told in the spiral tower. Visitors can enter a museum hall on every level and reflect on the history of the dead city, while on the way up breath-taking panoramas unfold above the living city. The top of the tower accommodates a restaurant, a party room and a panoramic terrace, where the present is celebrated and the future is planned.

The facades

Facades, floors, walls and ceilings of the tower are entirely covered with large panels of hand-cut red Indian sandstone, evoking the image of a monumental stone sculpture. The four-colour variation of the natural stone panels has been distributed over the facade on the basis of a computer-generated pattern. The spiral gallery is finished with a gigantic curtain of corrugated glass. Its play of light and shadow, of transparency and translucence turns this corrugated glass facade into a light counterweight to the heavy stone sculpture.

The ornaments

In order to soften the monumental tower volume, a pattern of metal ornaments has been attached to the facade as a veil. The ornaments have the shape of hands, the symbol of the City of Antwerp. This pattern is continued inside the building by means of metal medallions, cast according to a design by Tom Hautekiet with a text by Tom Lanoye.

The museum square

The museum square at the base of the tower is an integral part of the design. The square has been designed in the same red natural stone as the tower and is surrounded by pavilions and terraces as an urban area for events and open-air exhibits. The central part of the plaza is sunken and forms a framework for the large mosaic by Luc Tuymans.

BUILDING LAYOUT

The storeys

The ground floor includes the entrance hall with the information counter, the cafeteria and the departments for logistics, storage and transport. The children's workshop is accommodated on an intermediate level above the ground floor. In principle, levels 2 to 8 are identical storeys which can be subdivided completely flexible. The first storey is currently arranged for offices, the second as a depot and storeys 3 to 8 as exhibit halls. The ninth floor at the top is laid out for a restaurant, a party hall and a commercial kitchen. A large terrace next to the restaurant has a view on the Scheldt river.

The gallery

An escalator route runs upwards through the gallery. This is the most important circulation route in the building. Large-scale objects that can also be seen from the city can be placed in the gallery. The escalator route leads upwards along light walls on which alternating images and texts can be displayed, and along display cases holding objects. This is the quick museum route, where visitors are offered a short scenographical story on their way up.

Every museum hall consists of a continuous museum area with an identical layout; a large museum hall, a small museum hall and four smaller zones. The museum hall is a black box with no daylight in which all kinds of scenographic and audiovisual arrangements can be set-up. One walks into the halls from the gallery and takes the museum route around the core, ending up at the same point in the gallery. This is the slow route, where an extensive scenographic story can be told.

The core

The central core of the building includes the logistics components, such as the lifts, two fire stairs curving in a double helix and the vertical technical shafts. An intermediate storey is included on every level in the core, provided with a technical area for the mechanical ventilation of the museum hall.

The roof

The roof of the building is laid out as a public panorama roof with a view over the city, the harbour and Antwerp's surroundings.

The pavilions

The pavilions are an integral component of the project. They form a division to the Willemdok, on the one hand to guide pedestrians on their route between the city centre and the Eilandje, on the other hand as a wall of the museum plaza. There are four pavilions, dedicated to information and commercial uses, such as the museum shop, immediately opposite from the entrance to the museum tower. Covered outside areas lie between the four pavilions, which can be used for all kinds of public events and to exhibit objects.

Layout and scenography

The building is set up as a flexible museum machine which can be used and arranged in all sorts of ways on the basis of the changing visions of curators, scenographers and concession holders. Neutelings Riedijk Architects has no further involvement in the elaboration of the interior or the scenography. The scenography of the first exhibits is to be set-up by B-Architecten; the cafeteria, party hall and the restaurant by the decorators of the concession holders, and the pavilions by the Founders' interior decorators.

CONSTRUCTION

Support structure with central core

The 62-metre high MAS tower is supported by a 12×12 metre central core of concrete poured on site. Steel frames are suspended from this core, extending 12 metres. The frames form a balance structure on either side of the core in accordance with the 'milk maid' principle. The frames are still partially visible in the exhibition halls as large V components that divide the areas of the halls. The outer walls are suspended from the outer ends of the frames, which in turn support the floor components. The floor components consist of 12-metre long prefabricated concrete TT girders. The typical main sculptural form of the building is created in this way without a single column, as a stack of cantilevered halls.

Supporting outer walls

The outer walls of the tower are built out of prefabricated concrete panels, 6 metres high and 1.80 metres wide. The panels are welded together by means of welding plates, so that the entire unit forms one single 36-metre long wall girder. The visible side of the panels have a surface texture of vertical planks with a wood grain structure. This pattern is made by means of rubber casts of real planks, which were subsequently used as moulds in the forms. The walls contain 50,000 visible screw plugs that form a decorative pattern in the exhibition halls and can be used as a suspension system. All visible concrete is finished with a fabric coating tinted with a yellowish pigment, which makes the concrete look somewhat weathered.

The facades are covered with 100×60 cm red sandstone panels from Agra in India. A random pattern with four shades of red has been made in order to break up the large facade surface areas, whereby no more than two panels of the same colour are adjacent to each other. Walls, floors and ceilings of the galleries are covered with the same red sandstone panels, which emphasises the sculptural nature of the volume. The plaza and pavilion are also constructed of the same stone, so that the complex forms one single unit. The red sandstone is hand carved and unpolished, creating a relief design on the visible side of the stone, thereby giving the building an accentuated tactile appearance.

Hands and medallions

A metal ornament in the form of a hand is mounted on every third stone. The pattern of 3185 hands lies over the stone facades as an elegant veil. This pattern continues inside the building in the form of metal medallions incorporated in the panels.

Corrugated glass facades

The monolithic nature of the building is softened by the corrugated glass curtain that enfolds the gallery. This transparent facade is made up of large glass sheets, 5.5 metres high and 1.80 metres wide. The sheets are curved into an S wave with a depth of 60 cm, which stabilises every glass sheet and makes it self-supporting, so the sheets can stand free on the floor without any window profiles. In this way, maximum transparency is accomplished without interrupting components. In the corners two glass panes support one another up to a height of 11 metres. A steel tube suspended from a heavy chain ensures horizontal transfer of the wind loads.

CLIMATE CONCEPT

A sustainable building within strict museum requirements

The basic assumption of the MAS design was to achieve a low-energy and sustainable concept within the strict international standards imposed on the indoor climate of a museum. In order to prevent this strict climate requirement from applying to the entire building, the option was selected to establish different climate zones in the building: the museum halls on the one hand, and the gallery on the other.

A stable climate in the museum halls

A strict stable museum climate of 22 degrees Celsius and 55% relative humidity prevails in the museum halls. The halls are located in the closed building components that are best insulated without window displays, thus limiting loss of energy. This coincides with the basic assumption of the museum that the historic objects may not be exposed to daylight and that many exhibits will include multimedia presentations.

Variable semi-controlled climate in the gallery

The character of the gallery is transparent due to the large glass displays that provide a maximum view on the city. Since no special museum requirements are imposed on this circulation area, a variable semi-controlled climate has been chosen; the indoor temperature fluctuates depending on the season. A temperature of about 12 degrees has been selected as the lower limit for the indoor temperature of the gallery in the winter, and an upper limit of about 30 degrees in the summer.

Energy balance between the museum halls and the gallery

The balance between the museum halls with a high energy demand and the galleries with a lower one is utilised by exhausting the ventilation air from the museum halls via the galleries in the interim seasons, so that the residual heat from the halls heats up the gallery. Inversely, in the cold periods the gallery functions as a conservatory that captures the solar heat and preheats the ventilation air for the museum halls.

The gallery as energy buffer

The gallery functions as an energy buffer, whereby the stone masses of the galleries are heated or cooled depending on the season and the hour of the day. The inertia of the stones regulates the buffering of the solar energy. A water-bearing system has been installed in the floor which can transport both warm and cold water. This system makes it possible to compensate for the differences in temperature between the north side and the south side of the building.

Cooling with dock water

The MAS will be cooled by means of the dock water from the Bonapartedok, which always has a lower temperature than the air. The difference in temperature between the dock water and the outside air is utilised by means of pumps and heat exchangers to cool the ventilation air. In this way primary energy is collected from the immediate surroundings in a sustainable manner.

De-centralised set-up

The entire installation for heating, cooling and ventilation is set up de-centrally. A separate air conditioning unit is set up on every storey so that the climate for each museum hall can be regulated separately.

+ Project credits / data

GENERAL

Project: Museum Aan de Stroom (MAS) http://www.mas.be

Programme: New Development | Museum for City History Antwerp (Museum, Restaurant, Party Room, Pavilions, Plaza)

Surface area: 19.557 m2 Floor surface, 11.415 m2 Outdoor construction

Construction costs: € 33.409.000 (including construction of the pavilions and plaza, excluding design, scenography, VAT, fees and indexing)

Location: Hanzestedenplaats | 2000 Antwerp | Belgium

Principal: City of Antwerp in cooperation with AG Vespa

Design: International Competition | 1st Prize | April 2000

Start construction: October 2006

Realisation: February 2010

DESIGN TEAM

Architectural design: Neutelings Riedijk Architects | Rotterdam | The Netherlands

Structural design: Bureau Bouwtechniek | Antwerp | Belgium

Constructive design: ABT België | Antwerp | Belgium

Building physics: Peutz bv ingenieuze adviseurs | Mook | The Netherlands

Installation design: Marcq & Roba | Brussels | Belgium

Fire safety: IFSET International Fire Safety Engineering Technology| Asse | Belgium

ART INTEGRATION

Medallions: Tom Lanoye (text) and Tom Hautekiet (design) | Berchem | Belgium

Plaza mosaic: Luc Tuymans | Antwerp | Belgium

GENERAL CONTRACTOR

General Contractor: THV MAS | Antwerp (Interbuild, Willemen, Cordeel)

PHOTO CREDITS

Photography building: Sarah Blee | Antwerp

Copyrights photography: Neutelings Riedijk Architects and City of Antwerp

+ All images and drawing courtesy Neutelings Riedijk Architects | Photo by Sarah Blee

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October 28, 2012

Extension of Eichi Centre Niederglatt Multifunctional Double Sports Halls | L3P Architekten

Swiss architect L3P Architekten recently has completed the extension of the multifunctional double sports halls in the Eichi Centre Niederglatt.

Architecture / Aesthetics

The existing Eichi Centre stands out through the composition and no-frills interaction of the simple cube. The rough plastering in various warm tones that is used on the facade comes alive with the interaction of light and intensity.

The centre was built in 1985 by the architect Walter Schindler and in 2007 the new schoolhouse annex was completed by our office. In mind of a continuation, we used the same facade materials for the sports / school hall extensions. The existing colour concept in warm orange-red tones is continued and extended with a new colour tone.

Project

The multifunctional double sports hall appears as a compact structure and so forms the architectural completion of the school grounds to the south-west. The internal structure consists of a two-storey room overview to the west and the adjacent halls to the east. The stage is arranged on the long side of the new sports hall annex.

The new two-storey foyer is aligned with the outer sports area and has a generous glass facade. The toilets, office and outer equipment room are designed for the ground floor and are also accessible from outside. The change rooms and showers are found on the first floor and are accessible through a spectator gallery that is open to the halls. For fire prevention security, the halls and the new accesses are designed as one fire area. This allows an extremely variable usage – as the name "multifunctional hall" suggests. Emergency exits lead from all areas directly outside. On the first floor a second corridor layer enables emergency exit to the south. Simultaneously, the possibility of partitioning creates the opportunity of additional dressing rooms which are directly connected with the stage through an internal staircase for theatre artists. A further advantage of the room layering is the resulting intimacy for the users of the dressing rooms.

Development / Design of Existing Foyer and Sports Hall

The existing access from Rütiwiesenstrasse was extended and bituminised.

The access to the new multifunctional hall is regulated as follows:

Clubs and students are to use the new entrance on the ground floor, vis à vis from the classroom wing exit. Club members have the possibility to park their cars in the evenings and during the week in the delivery and stage areas.

For use of the multifunctional hall, the public entrance is through the existing foyer, which is accessible over the school yard and the nearby parking possibilities. The materialisation, lighting and colour concept of the existing foyer and existing sports hall have also been newly designed.

Statics / Lighting / Room Design with Circular Milling and Perforations

The existing sports hall lost its vertical window surface to the south through the construction of the new annex. Northern-oriented skylights were left. The existing supporting structure was calculated with the responsible engineer who calculated the structure in 1985. Aging of the concrete and the resulting higher compression strength allowed for individual circular perforations.

Due to expenditure, the idea of round and playfully ordered skylights was abandoned. As a creative compensation the architects integrated circular milling in – and plywood facing on – the exposed concrete walls. Generally the circle is omnipresent: round milling and perforations have been integrated in the concrete walls of the viewing gallery, respectively, the new walls being accordingly designed. Like jumping balls, a metaphor is formed with the circular milling, which makes the halls very attractive spatially.