The turnkey team run by Pallisgaard with JAJA as architects and MOE as engineers won the job of transforming the old concrete hall at the Eternitten for a raw and vibrant epicentre of street sports and street culture in Aalborg.
The winning team’s proposal maintains a number of the existing structures and fronts with a few well-chosen alterations and additions which provide new application possibilities and sends a strong message about the entry of the street culture into the old halls.
Up until selection of the winning proposal, there has been a close co-operation between the municipality of Aalborg, GAME – who will be running Streetmekka – and the local street scene. Idea workshops and user forums have provided input for the build and up until the opening, the involvement of the users will continue.
The internal arrangement with various activity zones that are well-suited for lowering the bar for sports as many types of users can use the house at the same time – also special needs users who are not already doing sports and who need to have access to using smaller, screened off areas.
The winning proposal maintains part of the concrete walls between the hall and the laboratory building that form ‘canvases’ for street art. Also, in an innovative fashion the existing crane has been made accessible from the first floor via balcony alcoves on the first floor which creates light access to an attractive view-lounge hang-out area with a view of the city. The crane can also be used to divide the room and for suspension.
The outdoor areas will be publicly accessible and are based on the same principles as inside which is reusing existing elements with a few additions in order to create e.g. a parcour flow on the slope and an outdoor boulder wall for climbing. The principle of reusing existing elements will elegantly pull in the character of the surrounding post-industrial landscape right into the Streetmekka.