A modern gymnasium in Marcinkowice is another completed sports facility in the portfolio of Cracow-based architectural firm ARP Manecki. Situated in the vicinity of a park and the former Morawski Manor, the building's shape matches the nearby road, and its distinctive colors are, as Mateusz Manecki says, a reference to the color scheme, autumn beech leaves.
ARP Manecki's studio is known for its construction of sports and school facilities. The newly opened sports hall in Marcinkowice (Nowy Sącz district) is another facility of their design in Małopolska. In February, a sports hall was opened at Elementary School No. 151 in Krakow. In 2020, the first users were welcomed by a swimming pool on Kijowska Avenue, and in 2021 a multifunctional village house in the Zielonki municipality was completed.
The color scheme of the facade is a reference to the autumn beech leaf
Photo: Tomasz Prokop © ARP Manecki
Marcinkowice with new sports hall
The hall in Marcinkowice is a free-standing, functionally independent, one-story building. The building was designed from two overlapping blocks—the larger of the two is the sports hall, which with its semicircular shape refers to the district road running in a curve. The main entrance is located on the eastern side.
The second, smaller lump is a one-story back office of the sports hall, where locker rooms, washrooms, a teacher's office and a storage room have been located.
Marcinkowice sports hall, projection
© ARP Manecki
The interior of the facility is characterized by economy of form. The sports hall houses a full-size sports field (20 × 40 meters) with a safe zone and stands for 150 people, as well as a climbing wall and a large shooting range for eight positions.
The interior of the sports hall in Marcinkowice
Photo: Tomasz Prokop © ARP Manecki
The demand for a place to practice shooting is due to the educational nature of the W. Orkan School Complex in Marcinkowice, which has police classes and military preparation units. There are also many hunters in the area," explains Mateusz Manecki.
The facade is made of colorful synthetic panels
Photo: Tomasz Prokop © ARP Manecki
elevation in the colors of autumn
The hall has been located a considerable distance from the Moravian Manor to minimize its impact on the monument. The site also includes a parking lot with 33 parking spaces (including three for people with disabilities) and one bus parking space.
A distinctive element of the gymnasium's facade are colorful synthetic panels.
I chose autumn colors from the rich color palette of these panels, because the facade of the facility is a graphic of half of an autumn beech leaf, which was my inspiration while working on the project," says Dr. Mateusz Manecki, author of the project.
© ARP Manecki
Meanwhile, the roof over the part of the building housing the changing rooms is formed by three broken planes referring to the mountainous terrain.
The building is adjacent to the park, which is a former manor garden. The ARP Manecki studio is also responsible for the design of the landscaping around the manor and sports hall. It took the gentle form of meandering park paths with appropriate plantings of ornamental trees and shrubs.
The project cost PLN 13 million, the vast majority of which was external funding obtained by the district authorities.
