design: BIRO
project team: saša košuta, mario kralj, dora lončarić, hrvoje arbanas
client: private
location: Radnička Street Zagreb
status: architectural competition, 1st award
project year: 2017
The urbanist preconditions of the lot in question in the Zagreb business district determine a fragmented and in certain parts rather narrow construction area, which makes it difficult to execute a conventional typology: a business building with a central core that services its surrounding working areas and connects all storeys vertically, while minimizing the square footage of the communication itself. The volume has been elevated and follows the outlines of the potential floor plan with a differentiated northern arch, which consolidates the interrupted southern projections. In this sense, the form of the design becomes clear – a longitudinal communication corridor servicing segmented workspaces.
The business areas feature a free floor plan and offer numerous possibilities for functionally dividing and organizing work activities. The dichotomy of the program (the communication and service core on the one hand, and the open work area on the other) follows the concept of the load-bearing structure and the materials. The concrete arch assembly is the static stiffener of the building, whereas the working areas are executed in a steel structure.