Neubau einer Sporthalle in Bovec (SI)

The location of the new sports hall is situated in a sensitive area which is primarily dominated by an expressive landscape and existing spatial dominants (st. Urh’s church). The building is therefore placed in the venue where it is of utmost importance to respect historical, cultural and the spatial identities of the place. Because of the special requirements of the program, the building has a large floor and height dimensions, so the proposed solution constructs the building as a pavilion located at the very edge of the urban space. The design of the object, embedded in steep terrain, allows the placement of certain programs below the surface. This simultaneously increases the surface of the outdoor courts and reduces the volume of the sports hall in existing venue. The slope of the roof structure follows the contour of the terrain, it hovers above it, perceptually lowers the front facade and dematerializes large building mass of the sports hall. It is overgrown with greenery throughout the all surface so that from a bird's eye view it looks like continuation of the pattern of surrounding meadows. The volume of the object therefore looks like an elevated cutout of nature, beneath which is subtly placed program of the new sports hall. In the proposed manner the significantly reduced building mass is adjusted to existing spatial dominants. From a bird's eye view, as well as from Bovec's perspective, the object is almost invisible. In the silhouette of the venue, despite its size, the hall disappears and enables the existing landscape to have dominant role in the existing panorama.

The tectonic design of the building derives directly from the concept of placing the object into the existing ground. Because the object is located at the sloping terrain it is primarily made of concrete shell that is embedded into the ground and that protects the wooden structure above the terrain. In this manner it clearly establishes the relationship between what protects and what is being protected. Above the ground the concrete shell is bent outwards, so it forms a structural concrete cornice. This one, just like with the traditional Slovenian house, forms a pedestal that lifts the wood from the ground to protect it from the weather of the harsh alpine environment. The most dramatic and recognizable architectural element of the new sports hall is an expressive roof structure that does not hide its structural elements. In this way, the image of the object shows in the most direct way how the object is actually built. Due to the shading of the interior and the protection of the facade a wooden roof structure on all four sides strongly overhangs across the facade. Overhanging emphasizes the floating character of the roof and forms a sheltered outdoor space that is similar to that of traditional local house. Within this sheltered outdoor space all external connections between different levels are placed. This layer protects the facade from atmospheric impacts and is at the same time a lighting regulator. On the facade it creates a stripe of deep shadow and dematerializes large volume of the new building.

Therefore, the sports hall gets its distinctive pavilion character, which is inspired by the characteristics of traditional local architecture. Such architectural approach – despite the current predominance of superficiality, temporality and short-lividness – constructs space differently and seeks impulses of contemporary architectural expression. It moves in the realm of dramaturgical experience and the tangibility of space, explores its relationship with nature, time and memory. Such is the architecture which essence is hidden in the empty space it surrounds and not in the form it manifests. In a way one can comprehend this type of architecture as a reflection of the architect’s mindfulness and respect to a broader space where a structure is placed as well as the beneficiaries to whom this space will be handed over to in the end. This is the kind of architecture that understands its mandate as a continuation of that which has pre-existed. Furthermore, this is the architecture that makes no attempt to construct itself but rather complement that which has been in existence centuries ago.