Turkish triangle - community center for the Turkish community in Ober-Ramstadt, Germany

Architectural Review, The, July, 1996 by Layla Dawson

An extremely economical and compact centre primarily for the Turkish population of a small German town has brought new heart to a community.

Beside the river Modau, in the town of Ober-Ramstadt, stands a triangular, two-storey building with projecting corner balconies, topped with a steel hat brim. Large windows and glass doors open on to a lawn leading down to the water on the east side. Primary colours, white, red and blue, make the building look like a construction toy assembly; yet site and building regulations, forbidding construction within, dictated the form.

Watermills once stood beside the Modau. An Ober-Ramstadt factory produced the first German cars. Now there are other light industries, and a population of 15 000. Of the 15 per cent non-German inhabitants most are second and third generation immigrants from just one village in East Anatolia. The average German family has one child. Housing units are small, but Turkish families are larger. Few children have their own bedroom or space to play and develop hobbies

Ober-Ramstadt's Social Democratic govern ment promised a youth centre for the 11-19 year old schoolchildren. In practice the 'Trio' has become a centre for everyone, bursting at the seams with the demands made on its limited space. For a cost of only 1.7 million Deutschmarks, for building, fittings and landscaping, an open kitchen bar area with music system console, a lounge area with large tables, a small meeting room, a woodwork and pottery room, photography darkroom and multi-purpose room with associated projection room for film shows have been provided for children and adults. The Turkish community association, mostly used by men, has its own first floor room, office, kitchen and lavatories which can be used independently with access from the external stairway when the rest of the facilities are closed. Two social workers with a student helper have an office on the ground floor and a national service helper, who has refused military service, acts as caretaker, and has a one-room flat on the first floor.

An astounding number of activities are fitted like a Chinese puzzle into the time and space available. Up to 350 people attend disco evenings; up to 200 attend other catered functions. Building materials had to be not only cheap but hard wearing. The structure consists of reinforced-concrete columns and slabs with loadbearing concrete block walls. The external wall cavity is filled with glass-fibre insulation which can withstand moisture infiltration without damage or loss of insulating properties. This reduced the need for an additional air gap and thicker wall construction. External steelwork is unpainted. The roof perimeter upstand, containing soil and grass, is formed from corrugated steel sheets normally used for foundation linings. Residents wanted a traditional pitched roof but as the centre stood in parkland where bylaws insist on replacement planting for any built structures, the case was made for a flat grassed roof.

The timber-framed windows and doors are painted blue to match the internal thermoplastic studded sheet flooring. Ceilings are partially lined with perforated acoustic boards and the street elevation has small windows to reduce noise pollution.

Waechter is particularly pleased that round the clock use and community ownership has helped deter vandalism or break-ins. He resisted pressure to fence the site because it would have destroyed the building's open spirit. In inverse proportion to its cost, the commitment of designers and staff has produced a much appreciated community building.