Townhall Großbottwar, Architectural Competition 2014
When we view the site and its surroundings, we notice that the existing car park for the Wunnenstein Hall is a telling foreign element in the greenway of the Winzerhäuser Valley that runs to the southwest of the small Bottwar River. This is the starting point for the design which aims to establish a continuous greenway, coming from the northwest beyond the road ‘In den Frauengarten’ and into the city centre, by re-locating the car park.
The renaturation of the course of the stream aims to enhance this experience and to contribute to the improved scenic quality of the greenway. The relocation of the access road to the southwest that connects the city and the Wunnenstein Hall allows the greenway to be kept completely free of motorised vehicles and to be reserved for pedestrians and cyclists using the footpath and cycle path that run from the northwest to the southwest.
The new city hall will be located to the southeast of the Wunnenstein Hall. It is approximately in line with it and will form the southern border of the greenway together with it. The parking spaces for both halls will be located on a continuous car park that will be bounded by the city hall, Winzerhäuser Strasse, the cycle bridge and the access road to the mini-golf course. This urban reorganisation keeps the greenway free of negative impacts and allows it to develop its external spatial quality without encroachment.
The parking spaces are connected to the access road to the mini-golf course, which means that this can be used for traffic leaving after large events. Deliveries to the city hall and to the Wunnenstein Hall will be made from Winzerhäuser Strasse via the access road.
The scheme for the city hall aims to allow the newly gained quality of the greenway to be utilised by the city hall. Thus, the large hall and the multi-purpose room are placed in such a way that both rooms are connected to the green surroundings via terraces. The large areas of glazing in both rooms also allow wide views of the greenway. The covered entrance to the city hall is on the south side of the building. The foyer areas of the large hall and the multi-purpose room are directly adjacent to one another and separated by a mobile wall. The service access for backstage and for the kitchen is from the northwest and thus out of the view of the visitors. The large hall, stage and multi-purpose room are located behind one another and are flanked by the foyer along their length. This means that all four function areas can be easily joined for large events. The kitchen area is connected to the foyer, large hall and terrace and thus allows simple service to these three function areas. Supplies to the backstage area and the kitchen come via a joint delivery area on the first floor. Goods are delivered to the storage rooms on the ground floor via separate goods lifts. The kitchen and personnel rooms are supplied via skylights in the roof.
The architectural design of the new city hall provides for the construction of a simple structure with a surrounding base and a single-storey structure resting on this. The base, which is higher in the north because of the topography of the site, is also to be given an outer shell in in-situ concrete. The remaining structure is to receive a façade in sprayed plaster that differs slightly from the base in granularity and colour. All four sides of the building have deep indentations. This is where the glazed façade areas are located with their terraces or also the covered entrance area. The enclosed façade areas in the indentations are to be faced with wood.
