Tab. Socio-cultural Incubator. Conversion of the Bucovat Tannery, Dolj

Authors’ Comment

The project began with the search for a sustainable method to understand the intrinsic qualities of former industrial buildings and address the issue of dysfunctions in industrial areas, which arose after a long period of abandonment and the severe degradation of the built environment. Thus, the project argues for the validity of a conversion-type intervention in a former industrial complex, Bucovăț Tannery, a factory established at the end of the 19th century on the outskirts of Craiova. It was chosen due to the difficulty of addressing the site in relation to the needs and requirements of the current community.

This conversion process of the Bucovăț Tannery represents a sustainable approach to reusing spaces, a method of regeneration that avoids significant financial losses. It is a gradual, bottom-up approach aimed at involving and connecting the community through a co-creative, participatory approach, as expressed by the questionnaires completed by the inhabitants of the commune. The project seeks to reclaim socio-cultural, economic, and architectural values, foster social reconnection, and preserve and rehabilitate the collective memory of the industrial past and the place, while trying to integrate the needs of the community through the new assigned functions.

The project's concept aims to establish communication between the new architecture, the old architecture, and the existing context by reconnecting the buildings on the site, which gravitate around St. Nicholas Church, a class II-B monument. This connection between the buildings was achieved by creating an inner courtyard between the three preserved buildings, united by a glass walkway that allows communication between spaces, generating an intimate area that encourages users to appropriate the space. It promotes dialogue between the buildings, between interior and exterior spaces, and between users and visitors. The proposed architecture has an interactive character that stimulates a sense of belonging to a Place, generating spaces that catalyze dialogue, attract users, and foster a reciprocal regenerative relationship between the community and the architecture.

As for the proposed program, the buildings have been converted into cultural spaces with numerous public facilities. The buildings adjacent to the church include a kindergarten, directly related to its sacred space, and accommodation facilities to serve the cultural incubator. The three-building complex of the Tannery has been converted into leisure spaces, a library, greenhouses, a café, research areas, and youth activity spaces, as well as a restaurant and a multiplex that extends vertically with workshops for local crafts and leather design. The tower, which is the dominant vertical element of the complex, has been converted into an exhibition gallery, with a sky bar at the top level offering a panoramic view of the commune, the Jiu River, and Craiova.

The intervention on the former factory reflects a series of architectural gestures aimed at preserving the existing spaces as much as possible without altering the architectural expression of the existing buildings. Where the building envelope was degraded or missing, it was supplemented with a new layer of Porotherm masonry and glass, complementing the old brick, with the two coexisting layers remaining recognizable.