Location: Dalfsen, Netherlands.

Architect: moederscheim moonen.

Spring and MoederscheimMoonen architects collaborated with the municipality of Dalfsen to design a community centre that connects the remaining monumental library with various new functions. The centre includes two large indoor gym halls, accommodations for sport clubs, welfare spaces, educational and activity spaces for the young and elderly, the Dalfsen historic society, childcare facilities, and a central meeting place with a bar-restaurant. The architects prioritized the multifunctionality of the different spaces and their relation to each other. The library was redesigned as a transit space between the different functions within the centre, minimizing the need for extra corridors. Each individual space offers a different character in height, shape, and atmosphere. The oval-shaped monumental library underwent a thorough restoration and became a transit space that joins the different functions in a natural manner. The remaining library and sports hall were renovated, and the logistic joining of the facility spaces of the existing sport hall with the new top-sports hall allowed for successful integration with the complex, limiting the operation to renewing the facade. The project is all about the connection of people and society, and the architects introduced the + as an overall motto, symbolizing a new community centre in Dalfsen and marking a place in society. The building is more than the mere sum of its elements.

Photo credit: Luuk Kramer.