DHMZ
Location: Zagreb, Croatia
Type: Competition / 1st prize
Author: Radionica arhitekture + Studio A
Design team: Fani Frković, Tena Knežević, Nenad Kondža, Klara Nikšić, Jelena Prokop, Ana Ranogajec, Goran Rako, Josip Sabolić, Vlatka Šibalić
Designed: 2017.-2019.
Area: 20.250 m2


We call the new Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service (DHMZ) building a „trimaran“ because the program is spatially arranged in three north-south oriented lamellas. This simple system was chosen in order to maximize the number of offices while minimizing the footprint using a highly economical double row floor plan layout. Differentiation is achieved by moving the lamellas vertically. The first lamella, the western one, is elevated to let and pull the visitors into the building while giving the DHMZ complex a character of "moderate monumentality". Being lifted from the ground it leaves an opening on the ground floor, turning the garage into a covered parking lot. The second, middle one, is elevated even more to create a more spacious entrance hall below. The entrance hall is a place where we expect external visitors as well, so the library, the lecture hall, and the canteen are either within or right next to it. The third, eastern lamella, is elevated just enough to give the workshops in the basement below it natural lighting and ventilation. The most valuable space of our proposal are two gardens between the lamellas. The hall is stretched between them and the majority of employees work in the offices overlooking either of them. Lamellas are interconnected by sloped bridges passing through the garden treetops.