EFFEKT to transform abandoned train engine depot into street sports centre

News: Danish architecture studio EFFEKT has triumphed in a competition to design a street sports facility in and around a crumbling train engine roundhouse in Esbjerg, south-west Denmark (+ slideshow). And can we do so without compromising the cultural heritage of the existing industrial setting?» asked   Foged, whose past projects include   a cancer care centre. The vision is to make urban sports and activities more inclusive and accessible all year round, even in the Scandinavian climate. Related story: CEBRA’s sports centre «grows like a mushroom» from concrete skate park by Glifberg+LykkeskateNamed Streetmekka Esbjerg, it is one of three facilities proposed in Denmark by non-profit organisation Realdania, which plans to take   advantage of the decline of industry in cities by transforming abandoned warehouses into street culture   hubs. «Placing a playground for street culture that celebrates community and creativity on one of the most important historic sites in Esbjerg is also a way to preserve and reinterpret the historic relevance,» he said. EFFEKT will transform the former locomotive maintenance shed, arranged around a circular turntable, with a new youth and community centre centred around skateboarding – one of Europe’s fastest-growing sports. «The brief was equally exiting and ambiguous; is it even possible to create a framework for the unorganised sports that thrive with spontaneous participation and fluctuating schedules? These will include a sheltered space for transition and bowl skating, indoor and outdoor basketball courts, a street dance area, an indoor skate arena, workshops for DJing and street art, and a cafe and kitchen. Diagram – click for larger image»We believe that with this project we prove that we can,» he said. The architects point out that many of these disused buildings have already been taken over «by skaters, street artists and the like».