Community Centre Deventer

The Community Centre is the new heart of the renovated Rivierenwijk (River District) in Deventer. It houses not only an 'under-one-roof' school including child care facilities, a sports hall, a chemist's and a woman's centre, but also the local theatre, cafés, restaurants and shops. The building brings together all community facilities by combining them under a single roof in such a way that the plan in its entirety works out extra efficiently. It features a characteristic plinth with facilities that joins all the sections of the plan together logically. The roof of the plinth is treated as a raised ground level: the deck. Comfortable stairways access the deck from the ground level. A route across the deck leads to the entrances of the sports and theatre halls as well as to the outdoor cafés. On the west side, a striking residential tower, half rising out of the water, and a square building block mark the central area. On the east side, the educational facilities' low-rise buildings end in a terraced green waterside square. This square forms the community-oriented entry to the centre. The water theme is unmistakably present in the plan, both in the landscape and in the design.