Community centers

Architecture as a tool for the insertion, linkage and support of women weavers. "Las Tejedoras" is located on the outskirts of the urban community of Chongón, Ecuador, with a population of approximately 4,900 people, where the majority are women who are not part of the economically active groups, with little possibility of entering a labor niche. Since 2009 the Young Living Foundation; dedicated to generating programs that promote the potential of communities through education and entrepreneurship, opened the Young Living Academy where around 150 low-income children study, whose mothers are part of the local productive workshops, thus forming the Organization of Bromelias Artisan Women, focused on development through handmade fabric... 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

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

Goodlife! Makan is an innovative social initiative created by Montfort Care, a voluntary welfare organisation, to support ageing-in-place, built around meaningful pastimes that address the physical and mental wellness of seniors. This cheerfully designed 360sqm recreational centre is situated at the void deck of an HDB block in Marine Parade, with a communal kitchen as its nucleus. The place aims largely at reconnecting stay-alone elderly to the wider community to facilitate multi-generational exchanges. With cooking and dining together as the essence of the experience, this activity space provides opportunities for senior residents to interact and socialise through Singapore’s rich and easily understood food culture while developing roles... More

In collaboration with AGENdA Agencia de ArquitecturaProgram: Community CenterLocation: Higuerón, Morelos, MéxicoStatus: Under constructionArchitectural Project: AGENdA Agencia de Arquitectura | Dellekamp/SchleichTeam: Francisco Franco, José Manuel Estrada, Gustavo Hernández, Mariana Mejía, Juan Camilo Ramírez, Camilo Toro, Helen Winter Renders: Sana Frini, Samuele XomperoIlumination design: Lightchitects Landscape: Entorno Taller de PaisajeStructural engineering: Oscar TrejoEl Higuerón park was the second commission arising from the Infonavit housing institute`s initiative in Jojutla to us. Following the earthquake, severe damage was caused too much of the existing project's structure, which contained various community spaces such... More

Just outside the Portland city limits, Rockwood is among the most diverse and lowest income areas in the Portland metro area. Three non-profit organizations—Open School, Boys & Girls Club of Portland, and New Avenues for Youth—came together to create a two-building, 3.5-acre non-profit campus to support the neighborhood’s community of underserved youth. The campus delivers places for kids of all ages to learn, play, and socialize. The concurrent development of the two buildings enabled the organizations to create shared facilities that reduced initial capital investment. Open School East is an innovative college-prep school that prepares students who have struggled in traditional public school for success in college, career, and communi... More

Tall | Community | MetrogradeTwo 35 StoreysResidential + Day CareScarborough, Ontario668 Dwelling Units More

nARCHITECTS was commissioned by the City of Auburn, NY and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to design the New York State Equal Rights Heritage Center and public outdoor space in historic Auburn, NY. The new 7,500sf project transformed a former municipal parking lot into the new civic and cultural heart of historic Auburn, NY, home of Harriet Tubman. In the words of Governor Cuomo, “The Equal Rights Heritage Center in Auburn honors the efforts and sacrifices made by the many in the fight for justice and equality.” Unlike a museum setting, the building and exhibition is conceived as a portal to the many tourist attractions throughout the state that are connected with the struggled for equal rights.... More

At the core of the urban renewal project for the Mireuil district of La Rochelle, “La Queue du Lézard” (“The Lizard’s Tail”) is a complex of local community amenities which is part of a plan proposed by ANRU (the French National Agency for Urban Renewal) developed together with landscape designers from the In Situ firm. A community centre, city sports grounds and a games library are grouped together in a 200 m long narrow strip made up of alternating built elements and voids.The daring, deliberately marked architectural style is integrated into the urban planning of large housing complexes. It is a cross-cutting place that provides functions, activities and images for the future neighbourhood. This social, political and committed project is... More

Kastelli Community Centre is a place for learning, education, sports and culture. The many users of the Centre include the comprehensive school, upper secondary school for youth and adults and a library. There are also facilities for the adult education and a youth centre. Variety of sport halls of different sizes serve athletic clubs after school days. The largest sports hall with 800 seats is used also for floor ball, basketball and volleyball games in the national league level. Due to the complexity of the project the City of Oulu arranged a two-phase design competition in 2009 - 2010: the entry called “hyrrä” (“gyroscope”) was declared the winner of the anonymous competition. The winning entry succeeded in segmenting the... More

The Islamic Community Center and prayer space is located in Lower Manhattan, a couple of blocks away from Ground Zero. Due to the strong controversy provoked by the project, the true challenge was to create a piece of architecture that would propose a platform for mediation of social, cultural, urban and political differences in one coherent environment that would equally cater for all parties. The 22-storey building façade of interconnected webbing takes root in the historical fundamentals of Islamic pattern making. Using a parametric scripting tool written specifically for this exercise using advanced modeling software, we were able to manipulate the density of the geometries in real-time by adapting the skin to the interior program, priv... More