Gors Cultural Centre, Rezekne, Latvia

Architects: Uldis Balodis, Daiga Bikse
Text: Eszter Götz
Photos: GORS

Rēzekne is the first city in Latvia where a completely new concert hall has been built from the ground up, and currently it may be seen as the most important cultural building in the whole of Latvia. The design by Uldis Balodis and Daiga Bikše won the architectural design competition in 2008. Gors has a classic three-part volume combination – a multi-level vestibule that is open for view, the Great Hall and the Small Hall. The glazed facades and the facades dressed with decorative fibre cement panels are easily visible from the city’s viewpoints, and they fit in harmoniously in the pronounced terrain of the location. The boundary between the facade and the roof has been visually broken down by using the same materials and distribution of proportions in the final part of the building, and, furthermore, the roof terrace is open to the public during the summer season, to organize film evenings and concerts there. There is a series of rooms surrounding the three-part volume for rehearsals, exhibitions and seminars as well as separate rooms for artists and conductors. The extensive glazed areas emphasize the communal character of Gors and create a connection between outdoors and indoors.

Architects: Uldis Balodis, Daiga Bikše – Vizuālās modelēšanas studija
Fellow architects: Daina Levāne, Eva Rozīte, Viktorija Barinova, Linda Balode, Ģirts Reimats, Mareks Stefaņenkovs, Māris Strazdiņš, Oļegs Stefjuks, Juris Štrāls
Acoustics: Akustikon–Norconsult AB
Structural engineering: MDK konstruktori
HVAC: Efiko
Electric power supply: Jumiks
Landscape: Grundule arhitekti
Client: Rezekne City
Main contractor: Arčers