Background
The project, commissioned by the Kobierzyce Local Authority, responds to the growing need for cultural and community facilities in the village of Wysoka,which is a suburb of the city of Wroclaw. A new branch of the Kobierzyce Cultural Centre is planned on a site at the corner of Cztery Podkowy and Bratnia Streets, creating a new focal point for the local community.

The building will accommodate a 250-seat multi-purpose auditorium with a permanent stage, a range of rooms for the Cultural Centre’s activity groups, a branch of the local library, and a community meeting room. These diverse functions are organised around a shared entrance hall conceived as more than simply a circulation space: on a daily basis, it will operate as an informal

public space for co-working, meeting and exhibitions, while during performances and larger events it will transform into a conventional foyer.

The brief divides the programme into five or six distinct functional groups, each of which could, in principle, operate as a separate, self-sufficient building. Bringing them together under a single roof, creates an assemblage of complementary entities — a collection that have a clear reason to belong together.

The building is therefore conceived as a pluralistic expression of the programme it contains. The, auditorium and stage, library and educational spaces each retain a degree of individual identity while contributing to a larger whole, united by the central atrium as the shared spatial and social heart of the building.

Zoning Limitations & Site Constraints

1.High groundwater level

The high level of groundwater makes the construction of underground floors technically challenging and, consequently, economically unjustified. It therefore becomes increasingly clear that the entire programme must be accommodated above ground. The final number of above-ground levels remains to be determined, but the building may range from one to three floors.

2.Maximum Building Coverage Ratio of 30%

The maximum building coverage ratio of 30% of the building plot area limits the building footprint to no more than 2,072.40 m². This is significantly smaller than the minimum required programme of approximately 2,716 m² net, which translates to at least 3,000 m² gross once walls and other non-programmed areas are taken into

account. As a result, accommodating the entire programme on a single floor is not possible, making a multi-level building necessary.

3.Requirement for biologically active areas

The requirement to retain at least 50% of the site as biologically active area further restricts the amount of ground-level surface that can be occupied by the building and other hardscape. Even with a substantial proportion of the required green area provided through green roofs, accommodating the entire programme on a single ground floor would leave insufficient space for the required landscape and outdoor functions.
The combined effect of this and the preceding requirement therefore strongly favours a more compact, multi-level building, with the programme distributed across two or potentially three above-ground floors.

4.Building line and site constraints

The uninterrupted building line, defined by the required 6m setbacks from the southern and eastern site boundaries, together with the gas infrastructure along the northern boundary, determines the elongated proportions of the building. These constraints naturally favour an east–west orientation, while the maximum building width is limited to approximately 37 m.

5.Building height restrictions and spatial requirements

The maximum permitted building height of 12 m, combined with the

required clear heights and daylight access for the individual spaces, makes it difficult to achieve an optimally functioning arrangement if the auditorium is placed at ground level, despite this being the most logical solution from a functional perspective.

The auditorium is the largest and most spatially inflexible element of the programme. Together with the stage, it forms a substantial volume with a rigid, box-like geometry and a required height of at least 7 m. The remaining functions must therefore be organised around it, with their location and degree of connection to the auditorium largely determined by its position within the building.

The Resulting Design Strategy

For these reasons, we found that the most attractive and logical solution is to locate the auditorium on the first floor, with its volume extending through the level above and reaching the maximum permitted building height of 12 m.

Placing the auditorium above ground level also creates valuable space at ground level underneath it, which can accommodate functions some of which do not require direct daylight, such as storage and technical rooms. At the same time, the roof structure over the auditorium can be designed as a relatively lightweight construction, as it only needs to carry its own weight and does not support any additional rooms above.

The auditorium, together with the stage, occupies an approximately 24 × 24 m square in plan. As a result, it takes up a significant portion of the building footprint (1/3 to 1/4) and, in particular, a substantial part of the approximately 37 m maximum building width permitted

by the building regulations.

Once the necessary circulation route connecting the backstage and dressing rooms with the main lobby is taken into account, the remaining space for manoeuvring the auditorium within the building becomes even more limited. At this point, its orientation is essentially reduced to two viable options: north–south or east–west.

The east–west orientation offers an additional advantage, as it allows the internal roads and access ramps leading to the loading bay to be kept shorter and more compact, resulting in a more efficient arrangement of the service and delivery areas.

As the auditorium will be located on the first floor, a dedicated lift is required to transport stage equipment and other performance-related requisites between the ground floor and the auditorium level. This introduces an additional spatial requirement, as sufficient space must be provided for the lift itself as well as for the circulation and maneuvering of equipment around it on both floors.

Urban Spaces

The building can be accessed from either of the two roads bordering the site: from the south, along Bratnia Street, or from the east, along Kolorowa Street. However, the southern side offers relatively limited space for creating a generous and welcoming entrance plaza that could also serve as a place for local residents to meet and socialise. Locating the main entrance here would require extending the building further along the east–west axis, potentially resulting in longer internal circulation routes and a less efficient overall plan.

Moreover, positioning the main entrance on the southern side could unnecessarily fragment the public realm, weakening the potential

for a coherent and continuous outdoor space and pedestrian circulation around the building.

Instead, maintaining a more compact building footprint, as close as possible to a square in proportion, while placing the entrance plaza along Bratnia Street creates a more generous and clearly defined public space. The entrance plaza can consequently function not merely as an access point, but as a welcoming place for informal gathering, meeting, and community activity.

The children’s playgrounds are located along the quieter western edge of the site, as far away from street traffic as possible, and are surrounded by lush vegetation that provides a natural buffer and creates a more sheltered, peaceful environment for children.

The entrance to the Cultural Centre’s activity groups is set apart from the main entrance by a small, polygonally shaped lawn, creating a subtle separation and providing a degree of privacy.

Together with the adjacent green areas, this space can also function as an informal open-air exhibition area, offering an opportunity to extend the cultural programme beyond the building and into the surrounding landscape.

During the summer months, on one of the larger green areas, lounge chairs, beanbags, and other informal seating can be arranged to accommodate open-air cinema screenings, small performances or celebrations.

The main purpose of the public spaces though, is not to prescribe a fixed set of activities or predetermined experiences, but to create the conditions for informal, spontaneous and individual encounters. Their value lies in what cannot be fully planned: an unexpected meeting, a passing conversation, a trivial incident, or the beginning of a new friendship. Through these seemingly ordinary moments, the spaces gradually acquire personal meaning and become part of the individual “mental landscapes” of their users — unique experiences and stories that cannot be borrowed or replicated. With time, this can create a high concentration of meaning for the local community.

The Entrance Plaza

Due to the requirement to retain at least 50% of the site as biologically active green space, the amount of hard, paved surfaces will have to be kept to a minimum. As a result, the entrance plaza is not conceived as a conventional public square dominated by extensive paving.

Instead, we envision it as a more landscape-oriented public space, where pedestrian areas, planting, and greenery are integrated into a compact and carefully defined arrangement shaped by natural pedestrian flows. This approach allows the entrance to remain welcoming and functional while preserving as much permeable and

biologically active surface as possible.

Directly in front of the Kiss & Ride zone along Bratnia Street, the project introduces a small covered gathering space in the form of a pergola with a central opening, and a modest water feature at its centre. Conceived as a gateway to the site, the pergola marks the transition from the street into the public realm of the building.

Continuous concrete benches frame the approach and create informal seating, transforming the entrance into more than just a point of arrival. It becomes a small meeting place for the local community — a space sheltered from the elements for waiting, gathering, and casual interaction.

The Entrance lobby

As visitors approach the main entrance, there is little indication from the outside that a magnificent atrium space lies within the building. On the contrary, the atrium remains visually “buried” among the other expressive volumes that make up the architectural composition. This is intentional.

Rather than revealing the atrium through extensive glazing — a conventional approach often found in corporate architecture — the design creates a sense of discovery and unexpectedness. Visitors approach the entrance beneath a distinct volume containing the dance studio, which simultaneously acts as a portico and canopy. Passing through the relatively narrow vestibule, they remain unaware of the generous space that is about to open up before them.

The entrance lobby is conceived as the natural focal point of the building. Placing the auditorium on the first floor makes it possible to transform this lobby into a true atrium: a generous, vertically connected space that opens towards the levels above and becomes the starting point from which the building is understood and navigated.

The spatial sequence is therefore deliberately choreographed — from the compressed and sheltered approach, through the entrance, into the unexpected openness and expansion of the atrium lobby.

One of the consequences of locating the auditorium on the first floor is the creation of a circulation gallery leading to its two entrances.

Green areas

The zone of the gas pipelines are to be levelled where necessary and planted with long grasses and other low-maintenance vegetation. Rather than being treated as conventional lawns, these areas are conceived as naturalised landscape zones that can function as rainwater-collecting gardens, supporting local biodiversity and providing habitat for small animals, birds and insects.

The pedestrian paths through this area are deliberately kept to a minimum and, instead of conventional hard paving, will be covered

with reinforced grass mesh. This allows the zone to remain accessible while preserving the predominantly green and permeable character of the landscape.

A limited number of trees and other plants will be introduced, primarily around the playground areas and along Kolorowa Street. Along the street frontage, a row of trees will create a shaded pedestrian promenade and a green visual buffer separating the pedestrian realm from traffic, while also providing privacy and a pleasant green outlook for library visitors and co-working users inside the building.

“You can neither lie to a neighbourhood park, nor reason with it. ‘Artist’s conceptions’ and persuasive renderings can put pictures of life into proposed neighbourhood parks or park malls, and verbal rationalisations can conjure up users who ought to appreciate them, but in real life only diverse surroundings have the practical power of inducing a natural, continuing flow of life and use.”

― Jane Jacobs, “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”

Facade treatment

The proposal envisions the building façades (with the exception of the volume of the atrium) as a continuous layer of expanded metal in a light champagne-yellow tone. Different volumes are subtly distinguished through variations in the intensity of the yellow, while the solid walls behind the mesh introduce a broader palette of warm hues, ranging from yellow to orange.

The expanded-metal skin gives the building a distinctive architectural identity while avoiding the visual heaviness of a fully opaque second façade. Its appearance changes continuously throughout the day: as the sun moves, shadows shift, reflections change and the degree of transparency varies, revealing different layers and depths within the façade. Depending on the viewing angle and atmospheric conditions, the building can appear lighter or more solid, more transparent or more opaque. This changing relationship between the mesh, the underlying walls and the light

gives a relatively simple building envelope a dynamic and visually complex character.

The façade system also offers significant material and economic advantages. Expanded metal is relatively lightweight and can achieve a high degree of openness with comparatively efficient material use. Rather than fully cladding the building envelope, the system acts as a lightweight protective and shading screen placed in front of the insulated external walls. This reduces material consumption while providing solar protection and an additional layer of environmental protection.

The durability of expanded metal, combined with its relatively low maintenance requirements, further supports its use as a robust and economical long-term façade solution. Its ability to combine shading, visual identity, depth and material efficiency makes it particularly well suited to the project’s architectural concept.

Ecological and Energy-Efficient Solutions

The environmental strategy is based on an integrated approach combining water management, renewable energy production, passive climate-control measures, biodiversity and reduced operational energy consumption. The proposed solutions are intended to improve the building’s environmental performance while reducing its dependence on mechanical systems and potable water.

Rainwater management is based on a combination of extensive green roofs, rain gardens and an underground retention tank. Green roofs retain a significant proportion of rainfall at source, while rain gardens collect and naturally filter runoff from roofs, paths and paved areas. The retention tank provides additional temporary storage during heavy rainfall, reducing peak discharge and limiting the load on the municipal drainage network. Where feasible, collected rainwater can be reused for non-potable purposes, including landscape irrigation, cleaning external surfaces and toilet flushing.

Extensive green roofs provide additional thermal insulation and act as a buffer against solar radiation and overheating during the summer months. They also contribute to biodiversity by providing habitats for pollinators, birds and other species. Selected roof areas are combined with photovoltaic panels, creating biosolar roofs. Vegetation around the panels provides evaporative cooling, helping to limit their operating temperature and maintain their efficiency during periods of high solar exposure. The photovoltaic installation converts otherwise passive roof surfaces into an active source of renewable energy, particularly well suited to a public building with significant daytime electricity demand.

The building’s atrium roof skylights form part of a passive climate-control strategy. Automatically controlled opening vents can support the stack effect by allowing warm air to rise and escape through the upper part of the atrium.

Sensors monitoring temperature, CO₂ concentration, humidity, solar radiation and weather conditions can regulate the openings and coordinate natural ventilation with the mechanical systems. During cooler periods, particularly at night, the system can support night-purge ventilation, reducing accumulated heat and lowering subsequent cooling demand.

The expanded-metal façade functions as a secondary climatic layer. Positioned in front of the insulated external wall, the ventilated cavity and external mesh reduce direct solar exposure and solar heat gains while maintaining air circulation. The façade therefore provides solar shading and contributes to reducing cooling loads, while simultaneously improving the durability and environmental protection of the building envelope.

Energy-efficient lighting combines high-efficiency LED fixtures with the controlled use of daylight, occupancy sensors, daylight sensors and intelligent scheduling. Lighting levels are adapted to the actual requirements of individual spaces, reducing unnecessary electricity consumption. Lower internal heat gains from lighting also contribute to reducing the building’s cooling demand.

Landscape irrigation is designed around water efficiency. A low-pressure drip irrigation system delivers controlled quantities of water directly to plant root zones, minimising evaporation and unnecessary consumption. Where possible, the system can be supplied using retained rainwater rather than potable water.

Together, these measures form a coherent environmental strategy in which water, vegetation, renewable energy, the building envelope and building services work together to reduce resource consumption and operational energy demand. The approach combines passive and active measures rather than relying on a single technological solution, allowing the building to achieve improved environmental performance while maintaining the flexibility required by its diverse programme.