Community center

The Town Hall of Quedillac wanted to build a Cultural Center for the city. The main objective was to battle against capsularisation by providing a place where a diversity of publics could mix and gather around a common ground, thus fostering a social bond among the citizens. The new building would include a multimedia library, hall – coffee area, a youth space for teenagers and a childcare section for small children. David Foessel The site chosen by the municipality was next to the Town Hall, right in the middle of the town, where other public amenities are located (Town Hall, bakery, restaurant, bar, church, etc...).. The challenge was to create a place where multiple activities and publics could cohabitate and find synergy amo... More

an urban square doomed to live with vehicle traffic for so long that it has forgotten the meaning of enjoying the companionship of people. a non-place in the middle of the city center acting improperly to fleeting inhabitants, wasting time all alone... it is time to behave more decent to make friends and spend some time together!   the victory square, literally the heart of Prague 6, is a lately developed area differentiating from the old city with abruptly emerging wide boulevards flowing to a unique horseshoe shape. a.engels planned it as an urban square which in time became severely inhuman, amplified by heavy traffic turning into a non-permeable urban void, unattractive to be claimed as a vibrant public space. a simple solut... More

an 8-lane road 8km invisible wall that fulfilled its mission is now on a new quest to create a tailor-made playful and sustainable environment, ready to connect people on the go! participative and collaborative design strategy makes people respond to their surroundings and become the act of communication, sharing, and producing for social change. wouldn't it be exciting to be a part of this spread?   spreadSEOUL is the backyard of the surrounding along its track by giving clues and offering trails to nearby resources, giving a chance to enhance the diversity and connectivity of the neighboring by the adaptive reuse of the existing infrastructure (pixelated parks, schools, available rooftops, semi-private playgrounds, and unused... More

Etampes Town Hall wants to build a new community center for the Croix de Vernailles neighborhood, a modern urban area built in the 1960’s on top of a hill up-north the city center. David Foessel The existing facilities are dispersed all over three different buildings in the neighborhood making it very difficult to create a cohesive social project. Moreover, in recent years, the neighborhood has seen a dramatic increase in population making the existing spaces too small. David Foessel The Rosa Parks Community Center project can be seen as a dispositive to empower adults, families and children in need. It provides the community a multiplicity of recreational activities and educational programs for the minorities that have lo... More

The renovated 14 Street Y celebrates the diversity of its multi-generational, multi-ethnic membership. The ground floor program of lobby, fitness center, locker rooms, offices, showers and pool was reorganized as a series of parallel bands, each with its own identity. Photography: Bilyana Dimitrova As members move through the different bands, they experience the simultaneous happenings that animate the building. By using off-the-shelf materials in unconventional ways, the designers created a unique design within a limited budget. Fields of fluorescent light fixtures of different sizes redraw the ceiling, while bands of colored tiles reconfigure the floor plane. Photography: Bilyana Dimitrova The new entrance lobby has a custom g... More

The problem was reverberation. The newly renovated Campus Center at Mount Saint Mary’s University’s Chalon Campus, Los Angeles, CA, a 4700 square-foot multipurpose event space, was plagued by echoey acoustics that interfered with audibility in the room. The solution turned out to be a simple replacement of the hard ceiling panels with lightweight thermoformed acoustic panels. The Campus Center space had several lives since construction of the Humanities Building, designed by Bark & Ott and completed in 1966. The space was originally the Commuter Lounge, a Mid-Century Modern living room for students that did not live on campus and needed a place to gather between classes. As the only large meeting space on the campus without... More

Amiens’s town hall wants to construct a new building for the ALCO non-profit organization. ALCO is a community base association that dedicates to support precarious families in need of cohesion and empowerment. It provides the community a multiplicity of activities from educational media, plastic art, theater, poetry, to social mediation in a multiethnic neighborhood. ALCO is an organization, as it is a place for the community to gather, share and bond in a proactive environment.  Caption The town hall made available a site at the heart of the neighborhood school campus, which included buildings from primary school, to middle school, sports hall, soccer field and small concert hall – theater. It was a strategic positi... More

 This project is the result of a public competition organized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and financed by the Ministry of the Environment, the Global Adaptation Fund and the UNDP; with the participation of the Colombian Adaptation Fund. The community center is part of a larger program implemented in the "La Mojana" subregion to reduce the negative impacts of climate change. The "Morrocoy" community center owes its name to its shape of a turtle shell. Its function is to bring together the community and be a refuge in the frequent episodes of flooding in the area. It is part of a program that seeks to respond to emergencies caused by the winter wave and climate change in the La Mojana subregion, in the Colombian... More

Yulin Alley is initiated by Disable Persons Federation of Wuhou District and Yulin East Road Community, and is planned, designed and operated by Nhoow architects. It is a community center that is trying to create an environment of freedom and equality that suiting all.   Apart from the barrier-free spatial detail design, the whole space especially aims to mobilize people's “five senses”, namely vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. For example, we use wood, which provides good tactile warmth, as the interior material, so that the visually impaired people can enter the space more easily. An open kitchen is designed to wake people up with the smell of food. Large doors and windows are designed to allow for a wider... More

Nestled in the rolling foothills of northwest Calgary, Canada, the Shane Homes YMCA at Rocky Ridge (Shane Homes YMCA) is one of the largest YMCA’s in the world and provides the region with essential wellness amenities. This facility serves as the regional hub for community gathering, cultural programs, recreational facilities, and child care services. The extensive glazing and unifying curved timber roof that links each space creates an inclusive and vibrant atmosphere, engaging passersby and heightening curiosity.    The Shane Homes YMCA takes inspiration from the rolling hills and layered horizons. Its park-like site allows natural recreation uses; pathways curve through the site connecting users to the reconstructed wet... More

When ZAS Architects + Interiors reached out about photographing the ice rink at the Gore Meadows Community Centre, one of their main goals was to photograph it in winter with snow. I was immediately excited about the idea but I had no idea what was waiting for me...   A few weeks later, with a snowstorm announced on a Sunday, I scheduled the photoshoot for the following Monday, for which the forecast was sunny. When I arrived at the Community Centre just in time for sunrise, the conditions looked perfect: blue skies, a beautiful blanket of snow.... and a balmy temperature of -32C (-26F).    Photographing in very cold conditions is manageable with good equipment and by taking precautions, like not taking the camera directl... More