PROJECT: DELISABATINI architetti
YEAR: 2018
NAME: New Urban Centre of Veliko Tarnovo - Exposition Centre Building, International Architecture Competition
LOCATION: VELIKO TARNOVO, BULGARIA
CLIENT: Municipality of Veliko Tarnovo
COLLABORATOR: Arch. Luca Lanciotti
DOWNLOAD:
PUBLICATIONS:
The Exposition centre is the head, toward the centre of Veliko Tarnovo, of the wide pedestrian promenade that organizes the Masterplan. It has a characteristic and original vision. Its volume is clearly recognizable for its unconventional and out of fashion shape, and its dimension although it is not in conflict with the surrounding buildings. The new building, with its solid volume like a huge stone sculpture, is the result of the combination of two different flanked figures.
The first one is a massive, solid and stereo metric parallelepiped figure of the large hall with a roof garden on the top.
The second one is an informal, folded surface that contains an empty space of the main lobby. They are connected inside, but detached and far about 10 meters outside.
The large hall, 8 meters high, can be divided in six equal and independent halls. It can be opened, if necessary thanks to big doors, directly on the entrance square with its amphitheatre, increasing its possibility of use. Above the large hall, there is a technical and accessible floor for the lighting installation and management. The thick wall host in its interior, at every floors, all necessary service functions for the large hall and the main lobby (sanitary facilities, press centre, security room, simultaneous translation booths, cinema\projector booths, lighting, sound and effects command room, cloakroom, storages premises, etc.) The roof garden, protected, above the large hall, completes the exposition building. It is accessible from the interior directly from the lobby, but also from the exterior from the upper belvedere square. Thick walls circle the space and deep cut of them frame panoramic views of the city and monuments. The garden is suitable to host events, exhibitions, but also to relax or eat something in the café. The empty wall contains, besides café, Expo offices with meeting room and machine rooms for the underlying hall. The main lobby has an original shape also in its interior. It is a white empty space in which the exhibited artworks and the visitors colour it with their presence. The main lobby solves the difference of altitude, of about 7 meters, between the two buildings entrances; the first one is from the lower square toward the city and the second one is the higher belvedere square that looks at the valley. A monumental staircase and the elevators on the void connect comfortably the two entrances. The huge lobby is high 25 meters, in its higher point. It is naturally illuminated with a skylight that can be foreshadowed if necessary because it can host various types of events and exhibitions. Inside this huge and no divided room (about 1350 m2), there are three little objects (reception\ticket desk, bookshop and café) that liven up the space. The two external squares can hold part of events host inside the lobby. In particular, the lower square, with a shape of amphitheatre can physically linked with the main lobby across the glass doors. A stair on the sloping cover of the main lobby leads the visitors on the glass skylight that becomes a belvedere terrace that looks at the historic central area. In the underground, in addition to service areas (changing rooms, sanitary facilities for personnel, storage premise and dressing rooms for the large hall) and equipment rooms (HVAC installation, main electrical panel, server room, etc.) there are two parking levels that host in total 188 PS. A ground-level parking lot for 18ps is located very close to the lower entrance of the Exposition centre.
