Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists
14/07/2015.
[Groningen] The Netherlands
metalocus, SILVIA BATRES, IRENE GARCÍA
metalocus, SILVIA BATRES, IRENE GARCÍA
Among the buildings in the street, this undulating brickwork façade hides the sports halls designed by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists, which are perfectly integrated into the buildings of this historic street of Groningen.
Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee. Click above to see larger image.
Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Interior view. Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Interior view. Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Site plan. Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists.
Floor plans. Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists.
Ground floor plan. Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists.
Mezzanine plan. Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists.
First floor plan. Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists.
Roof floor plan. Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists.
Elevation. Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists.
Section. Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists.
Section. Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists.
Sections. Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists.
Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Sports Block Groningen by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists. Photograph © Daria Scagliola / Stijn Brakkee.
Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists has designed this sports halls, presented as an opaque box which is closed to the exterior. This allows to control the direct daylight, that enters the building through the undulating façade. Inside, two patios allow connecting the different spaces of the sports complex, while creating an intimate outdoor space in which users can get together.
Description of the project by Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists
Violenstraat, Groningen, is a fine-grained city street which is now the site of a relatively large-scaled, self-enclosed complex with two sports halls. The potential conflicts between the zoning plan and the functional specification dictated a multistorey solution.
Alignment of the block of two sports halls proved to have several advantages. It resulted in the block having a relatively modest impact on the street scene, and made it possible to build the volume detached from the adjacent properties thereby making a less massive impression. Placing dressing rooms and equipment storage space at the rear created room for two intimate patios, each planted with a tree. Schoolchildren can assemble in these spaces before entering the gyms. The sports block thus adapts without contrivances to the fine-woven urban fabric.
Functional requirements and spatial concept
A sports hall is in principle an opaque box. Direct daylighting is usually regarded as a disadvantage in a sports hall, owing to its potential for dazzling the users and facilitating visual intrusion. On the other hand, operating without daylight is unhealthy because it contradicts the natural biorhythm. The block has therefore been designed with an undulating brickwork facade which admits indirect daylight to each of the sports halls. The two halls are linked by a staircase in a transparent, double-height space.
Façade
The substantial, relatively opaque volume of the sports block was prone to come across as something of an exception to the existing street architecture. It was therefore obviously desirable not to depart too far from the general surroundings as regards the building materials used. When the block is in use at night, the undulating brickwork of the facade with its curving lines of light and the brightly lit transparent main stair well both present an attractive, lively image. The facade terminates at ground level in a long bench, which adds a new dimension to the intimate, public-friendly environment of the city street.
The rear elevation consists of a patchwork of aluminium panels in several tints that match colours already occurring on the inner site. This adds character to the blocky volume of the sports complex while also articulating it, so harmonizing with the fragmented image of the inner zone.
CREDITS. DATA SHEET.-
Architect.- Marlies Rohmer Architects & Planners.
Collaborators.- Fabian van den Bosch, Ronald Hageman, Thomas van Nus, Begoña Masia Albelda, Cor Martis.
Client.- Dienst OCSW Gemeente Groningen.
Contractors.- Brands Bouwgroep B.V., Emmen. Dekker Struik installatietechniek B.V., Groningen.
Structural engineer.- BREED integrated design, Den Haag.
Consulting offices.- Nieman Raadgevende ingenieurs B.V., Utrecht. E&B engineering, Lekkerkerk.
Dates. Design.- 2010. Completion.- 2014.
Area.- 1,160 sqm.
More information
Architects & Urbanists MARLIES ROHMER
Marlies Rohmer Architects & Urbanists is an experienced architecture firm, based in Amsterdam NL, which has been operating to much acclaim since 1986. The practice has a wide portfolio of commissioned work, ranging from residential to industrial functions and from conversions of existing buildings to complex urban renewal projects. Marlies Rohmer Architecture + Urban Planning has a particular reputation for designing schools, health care facilities and similar projects with social and cultural content.
The practice has won many awards for its designs both in the Netherlands and abroad.
The work of Marlies Rohmer Architecture + Urban Planning is realistic, diverse and distinct, and displays the practice’s hallmark style. The buildings are legible as both functionally apt solutions and as stimulating, specific responses to the brief. The work is always inspired by research into social and cultural phenomena which are relevant to the project.
In the outlook of Marlies Rohmer Architects&Urbanists , the architect is not just a visionary but is socially involved and fulfils an explicitly service-providing role through initiative-rich participation.
The practice, with a staff of approximately 15, functions by preference as a network-based organization. All-round, skill-based professionalism and “total engineering” are primary principles. So too is an open dialogue with clients and users, which gives rise to a design that satisfies everyone’s wishes but is always more than the sum of its parts.
