Horizontal HQ
Horizontal HQ is an office building in Dubrovčan, a village northwest of Zagreb, characterized by a rural and natural landscape. Situated in an environment that is rapidly transforming into a small business and industrial complex, the plot has a gentle natural slope from west to east and was originally used as a construction waste landfill.
By remediating the landfill, the plot is revived, creating a new topography, a new nature. Following the natural slope of the land, three mounds are formed on the site, defining the central space and pedestrian access paths. Technical, production, and shared spaces are arranged within the mounds, oriented toward the pedestrian path that connects them.
A horizontal disk is anchored in this unstable context. A simple single-story volume with a square floor plan, organized around a central circular atrium, is positioned on three greened mounds. Basically symmetrical, almost self-sufficient, and both neutral and specific, the building draws the natural landscape into itself, creating unexpected spatial sequences. In dynamic relation to its changing environment, its four ‘identical’ facades are perceived differently depending on orientation, sunlight, surrounding structures, or the natural setting.
The interior of the disk is organized as a dynamic, horizontal working environment, consisting of office spaces of different types and characters. The sequence of plans and transparent surfaces are used to enhance user interactions and intensive relations with the outdoor space. Along the outer facade, closed offices are arranged with corner meeting rooms and niches for group work, opening the central space towards the landscape. Wrapped around the atrium, this main communication space contains the entrance, reception, hot desk workstations, a circular presentation hall, and a small auditorium, which extends toward the multifunctional common space and outdoor terrace in the basement. A spiral staircase connects this space with a small rooftop pavilion, terrace, and running track.
The structural system consists of two prestressed concrete slabs connected by a series of peripheral V-shaped columns, four reinforced concrete cores, and freely positioned groups of inclined columns. The large structural spans allow for flexible space organization with lightweight, non-load-bearing, and demountable partitions.
The building creates its own context, simultaneously entering into dialogue with the surrounding nature and the newly built neighboring environment. With the continuous landscape extending beneath the building, the atrium becomes the central point of both the interior and exterior spaces, blurring the boundaries between them.
