Mannedorf Community Hall
MÄNNEDORF COMMUNITY HALL
SAM Architekten und Partner AG
ARCHITECTS
SAM Architekten und Partner AG
LOCATION
Männedorf, switzerland
PROJECT YEAR
2011
PHOTOGRAPHS
Dominique Wehrli
CATEGORY
Community center
Text description provided by architect.
In the competition to find a design for the community hall in Männedorf, we faced the question of whether to retain or replace the existing building. In its brief, the local authority left that choice up to the architects. Being undecided, we opted for retention.
Our ideas were shaped by various aspects: Up to one third of the material value of a building derives from its structure; the typical shape of the existing building is anchored in the collective cultural memory of the local population; and the forefathers of today´s inhabitants had put a lot of hard work into it over the years.
The old parish hall, which had until then doubled as a venue for meetings, was converted and incorporated into a new community hall, encompassing two halls and a range of meeting rooms for use by local clubs and societies.
The planning stages for this project were complicated and spread out over several years, and many plot boundaries had to be redefined in order to bring together the mix of uses in a new center for the village.
This resulted in the local authority succeeding for the first time in extending the village center up beyond the railway tracks and increasing the development density in the heart of the community.
The grape motif printed on the plasterboard panelling is echoed, too, in the design of the pendant lamps of colored glass balls. Männedorf always was a community of wine-growers and craftsmen, and this new hall pays tribute to that heritage.
The new Zentrum Leue comprises the new community hall, a new Protestant Reform Church hall and a block containing shops and offices. Together these three buildings form an ensemble, in terms of their arrangement and shared design of the outside spaces.
A restrained coloration contrasts with the green of the planting in front of the two gable façades. And in terms of its material impression, the ensemble sits well within the surrounding development.
The colourless anodised finish on the aluminium reflects the colour of the surroundings and buildings opposite. Depending on incident light and viewing distance, the façade can have a sculptural or textured look, rippled in effect like the surface of Lake Zürich.
The completion of the community hall marks the final stage in the creation of Männedorf´s new centre: ‚Zentrum Leue‘. In its form and external appearance, and in the recurrent grapes motifs, the building both draws on existing local traditions and fulfils the needs of a modern community.
