FROM ABANDONED WAREHOUSE TO CULTURAL HUB
03 Dec 2014
An abandoned warehouse will be transformed into a street culture hub in Denmark, in a bid to make urban sports more inclusive and accessible.
In Esbjerg, south-west Denmark, a former locomotive maintenance shed is being converted into a new youth and community centre.
One of three facilities proposed in Denmark to take advantage of the decline of industry in cities by transforming abandoned warehouses into street culture hubs, Streetmekka Esbjerg will be centred around skateboarding – one of Europe's fastest-growing sports.
With many of the disused buildings already taken over by skaters and street artists, the vision is to make urban sports and activities more inclusive and accessible all year round.
"The existing setting and atmosphere fit so intuitively with the programmatic brief," commented the architects from EFFEKT design studio.
"Placing a playground for street culture that celebrates community and creativity on one of the most important historic sites in Esbjerg is also a way to preserve and reinterpret the historic relevance."
An assortment of indoor and outdoor spaces will be arranged around the sunken hollow space, originally designed to hold a train turntable. These will include a sheltered space for skating, indoor and outdoor basketball courts, a street dance area, an indoor skate arena, workshops for DJing and street art, and a cafe and kitchen.
"Rather than deleting history we chose to recycle and reinterpret the circular typology of the train engine depot and turn it into a hybrid of industrial heritage and social activity space."
EFFEKT won first prize in the international competition to create the innovative street sports and cultural facility. The project is scheduled to be open to the public in December 2015.