Studio Kalamar

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LEV OFFICE BUILDING

Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
area: 4.200 m2
client: Regal d.o.o. Murska Sobota
type: office building
status: completed
year of construction: 2002

Location: Building stands on a corner of the most frequented intersection in the city, together with the building across the street it forms the "northern city gate" of the centre of Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital. On its central ring road, the city has five such gates, each representing a change in urban rhythm, scale and size. All indicators point to the uniqueness of location both in urban and architectural context. Historic context: Building stands beneath two large volumes of Hotel Lev and an apartment complex from the late 1960s, both a fine example of structuralism by architect Medvešček. Across the street, the 1930s building by architect Marjan Mušič, built soon after his return from Peter Behrens's studio, represents a good example of Bauhaus School.
Urban context: Location represents a typical ring arrangement - on inner side, the urban structure condenses, on the outer, it begins to thin out. Lev Office Building is located on the inner side, with its appearance it addresses the green areas on the outer side as well as attends to the continuation of building mass along the ring. The volume is descriptive on several levels: to a visitor from afar, it appears as base to Hotel Lev, to a passer-by at the intersection, it offers a continuous accompaniment of his movement - mostly in the car, but also by bicycle on or foot. As a protective sheath, it forms a small interior cosmos on the courtyard side, where a heterogeneous urban pulse with shops and cafes has developed since its construction.
Program: Visible part of the building represents only a third of the entire structure. Below ground, three more levels accommodate parking for adjacent buildings. The two floors above ground house offices areas, their communication oriented to the courtyard side. Architectural concept provides a connection with Hotel Lev, which has recently become the owner of the building.
Facade information: The high-polished minimal form interacts with drivers passing by; change of information echoes their movement. Information is given on three levels, aligning themselves with various motion speeds. The chromosome image of the vertical window openings follows movement with a large scale rhythm, the layer of creased metal in two contrasting hues continuously communicates with motion by changing colour, and the outer layer of printed glass softens the volume in small scale rhythm of continuous code. Each level addresses a certain sequence of the viewer's speed of movement, with the outer level simultaneously ensures a durability of architectural expression: glass as an inert material does not absorb atmospheric influences, pollution or graffiti.

ar+d award 2002: highly commended project
Bienal Miami+beach 2003: Gold Medal
26. Salon of Architecture Belgrade: ULUPUDS award
The Chicago Athenaeum 2006 International Architecture Award

Published in: Architectural review (2002), Abstract magazine (2003), Monitor magazine (2003), Phaidon atlas of 20th Century Architecture (2004), 1000 European architects (2006), Corporate buildings (2008), Design Vision - International Office Building (2011), Architecture and Fashion (2012), Architecture File (2012), World Architecture: Urban Complex (2013), Wallpaper City Guide - Ljubljana (2014)

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