OFFICE BUILDING MASARYKOVA F2

LOCATION
Ljubljana, Slovenija

CLIENT
Parkplan d.o.o.

PROJECT YEAR
competition 1999
project 2005 - 2006
construction 2006 - 2007

ARCHITECTURE OFFICE
Ravnikar - Potokar arhitekturni biro d.o.o.

ARCHITECTURE
Vojteh Ravnikar, Robert Potokar

COMPETITION TEAM
Vojteh Ravnikar, Robert Potokar, Matevž Čelik, Tanja Košuta, Marko Tul

PROJECT TEAM
Vojteh Ravnikar, Robert Potokar, Blaž Budja, Martina Tepina, Janez Brežnik, Marko Tul

PHOTOS
Blaž Budja

The orthogonally arranged volumes of the new buildings along Masarykova Street continue the grid of the rectangular urban fabric and the alignment of the partially completed building wings along Kotnikova Street. The rectangular volumes are diagonally cut by the line of Masarykova Street, alongside which the proposed F2 building continues in parallel, terminating at the intersection with Metelkova Street.

From Masarykova Street, access to the interior of the urban block is provided through covered passages between the building wings and through the gap between buildings F1 and F2. The passage continues into the internal street connecting Kotnikova and Metelkova streets. Access to the office spaces, as well as the main entrance to building F2, is provided from Masarykova Street along the exterior of the building.

The building is conceived according to the principle of a load-bearing shell with a folded floor plan, which creates a daylight atrium within the F2 wing. The solid shell is articulated through openings of varying sizes and configurations according to the differing significance of the façades—their programme, orientation and solar exposure. In the F2 wing, this shell extends from the second to the fifth floor. Above, the attic level is concealed beneath a horizontal roof set back from Masarykova Street and recessed behind the building’s cornice.

The lower part of the building is fully glazed across the height of the ground and first floors, creating a kind of plinth supporting the volumes above. In terms of both height and meaning, it corresponds to the base—the high ground floor clad in stone—of Plečnik’s Insurance Company building, as well as to the already completed F1 building.

Within the otherwise unified, folded-plan volume, the main vertical circulation core contains a staircase and three lifts. On the southern and eastern façades, concealed external roller-screen systems provide solar shading.