contemporary arts centre (NPAK)
The remodelled and refurbished NPAK Arts Centre connects the public space of the Vernissage Market with the residential communities to the South-West of the site, thus turning NPAK into a new place of meeting and public gatherings for Yereven, which provides an inviting atmosphere for artists and the local community.
A new extension to the north-east of the site creates a public portico entrance, connecting NPAK with the life of the street and Market, while providing an intimate entrance area for theatre and arts events that can spill out onto the street.
The stepping of the existing building ground slab has also been used to an advantage by keeping the space of the Large Exhibition Hall on the First Floor Level, while re-locating the theatre / cinema into the Lower Ground Level below the Large Exhibition Hall. This key move allows the loading bay and arts storage to be located to the more private south-west of the existing NPAK building, below the exhibition hall.
The structure and exterior walls of the larger existing NPAK building has been conserved, while precise partial demolitions and adaptations, which include cutting voids in the walls and floors re-order the current and new NPAK functions and make more generous and legible circulation between them. A new steel roof structure with saw-toothed roof lights allows northern daylight to be brought into the large exhibition hall.
The exhibition hall provides a view through the retained large circular window, overlooking the neighbourhood and Mount Ararat.
The walls around the large circular window are lined with open book shelving as part of the library. This turns the library into a key public function of the arts centre.A new hanging curtain wall facade is designed to provide diffused light and intimacy inside the building, while also expressing the functionality of the interior uses, allowing the buildings daily story to play out on the facade.
TYPE \ Contemporary Arts Centre (NPAK) STATUS \ International Architecture Competition COMPLETED \ 2019 LOCATION \ Yerevan, Armenia COLLABORATORS \ Melika Konjicanin, Aleksandra Jevremovic