THE BANG
Battambang, Cambodia
Art Gallery, 600sqm
Competition, 2021
First Prize
A shelter for creativity in Battambang
One of the main cities in Cambodia, Battambang has kept its traditional ethos, an exception in a quickly developing region. It is famous for its colonial center along the Sangker river, its landmark market, the Psar Nat, built in 1936 and surrounded by Chinese shophouses of the same era.
The Bang is a respectful low-rise building, lightly constructed to form a shelter within the boundary walls of the plot. This sanctuary for art is composed of a juxtaposition of programs and serene interior gardens. It is a reference to the courtyard of the National Museum, opened in 1920.
Three horizontal programmatic strips maximize efficiency and interface between users while offering a very flexible space.
The office programs and artist residence are on the sides, while a central gallery serves as a shared public space, developed over three sequences: at the entrance, an event space serves as a flexible multifunction area open to the street while at the center, an interior garden will host a permanent collection of sculptures and at the end, a temporary exhibition space is connected to an artist residence.
Cambodia’s landscape is characterized by its flatness. The roof of the Bang signifies its presence and autonomy by a high curved roof, whose shape enhances the continuity of the internal spaces. In a country like Cambodia, having a large roof area is the opportunity to create an energy positive building using solar power.
Wrapped with wooden screens reminiscent of the colorful colonial shutters of Battambang, the gallery´s envelope functions as a lantern at nighttime, and forms a climatic buffer allowing natural ventilation while protecting from sun and rain. This construction is intended to be cost efficient using local skills.
Instead of fighting the Cambodian sun, we filter it and allow it inside the building, following principles developed by the New Khmer Architecture and Van Molyvann. The screens of the lantern are made of a small profile of local wood.
Minimizing building weight and allowing the use of shallow foundations, the light metal structure offers capacity for evolution over time, as well as an impression of weightlessness, in contrast with its surroundings. The building hybridizes local crafts with a conscious use of industrial materials.
Antoine Meinnel / Bloom Architecture
Team: Antoine Meinnel, Nong Demy, Ban Rithy, Heng Sereyvathana