Community Center Guntersblum

Guntersblum is a town situated approximately 25 kilometers south of Mainz with 3,000 residents. Typical for the town center are farmhouses that developed over centuries. Their facades were made of ashlar, which was quarried in a nearby stone quarry. The homogeneous appearance of the town was permanently changed as a result of an energey-efficient redevelopment and the consequential extensive insulation of the building facades that lasted from the mid 1960s until the late 1970s. The modification of the building physiognomy also applied to the ‘Alte Turnhalle’ (old gymnasium), which was built in 1929. The term ‘old gymnasium’ was not really appropriate, as the building was rarely used for sports. It was mostly used as an event location, especially during carnival.

The renovation measures and the extension including a library and multiple assembly rooms adapted the old gymnasium to its actual use: a town community center.

The existing building’s interior was extensively refurbished and supplemented by a foyer that was annexed along the side wall. An elongated monopitch roof along the western side of the property accommodates the new library and the assembly rooms. Together with the foyer extension, it creates a trapezoidal space that opens up towards the street and is slightly elevated.

The new town community center uses modern design mediums, such as frame constructions, exposed concrete, metal windows and a tin roof. Yet the community center is still connected to the original town appearance with its ashlar facade and the tilted roof shape of the new building.