office building
In the old town of Cluj, built on a section of the medieval city wall, there stood a house marked for demolition. A new office building was built on this plot. Archaeologists of the city preservation committee demanded that as much of the city wall as possible be revealed and exhibited, as the basement level of the wall consisted of Roman stone blocks built nearly 2000 years ago.
The plot presented challenges even without the city wall: building regulations required a continuous build-up on the 98sqm plot. A continuous build-up would have hidden again the excavated western part of the wall. After long discussions, the committee agreed to an exemption from the regulations, allowing the building to be withdrawn from the street line, revealing an approx. 6m wall segment. This is how the reversed version of the old house came into being: its yard was replaced by the new core, and the old house was replaced by a small decorative yard. A glass-walled wedge was built between the sandstone city wall and the new reinforced concrete structure, cutting through the three lower levels and providing natural light even to the basement.
The building needed to host a growing team of six, with working areas, a conference room, common/eating areas and all the necessary service areas. The basement hosts the communal areas, a storage room, a toilet, a restroom with a shower, and the high- and low-voltage electricity command centre. The ground floor hosts the conference room, the first floor is the office of the lead designer, the next two floors host two more offices, the second also hosting a kitchenette. The top floor holds a toilet and the ventilation centre. All these are located in the prism-shaped core replacing the original backyard. The eastern wall of the three lower levels consists of the city wall.
The façade is defined by the narrow column of the staircase, which also connects to the firewall of the neighbouring Bauhaus-style house. The latter determined the cornice level of the new building, and the steps of its gable determined the pitch of the staircase roof. The connection between the open staircase yard and the small, 12 sqm western yard of the new building has a totally different feel. Rather than turning its back on the neighbours, the building was designed to cohabit with them. The western windows all look onto this yard, as well as onto the firewalls of the southern houses. This outlook defines the materials used on the exterior. The coloured doppel bricks were custom-made in Germany, their colours reflecting the shades of the neighbouring firewalls. The roofing was made of notched zinc plates, the large window frames of burnt wood, the windowsills of copperplate. The eastern elevation above the city wall, as well as the western one, is covered with notched copperplate.
Archaeologists strictly required that the visible reinforced concrete structure should by no means lean on the city wall, hence the large concrete consoles - one forming the wood-panelled canopy of the decorative yard as well as the floor of the next level.
Wherever one looks, visible surfaces define the space: the unjointed bricks were not plastered, only painted. The grey of the concrete melts pleasantly into the yellowish colour of the sandstone, the spiced-butter colour of the inner window frames, the slightly greenish grey-drab of the floor, the dark brown of the wenge panels, the warmth of the oak furniture and the cold dark grey of the iron elements.
Here and there a brighter colour appears, but the overall effect is defined by textures and the natural colour of the materials.
The building was originally designed to NZEB standards, with sunlight and warming plans, an air recirculation system, floor heating and photovoltaic panels for external lighting - but the presence of the city wall in the interior overturned all calculations and models. Technically, the building cannot be made fully airtight. Nevertheless, or possibly because of this, the building is impressive, welcoming, homely, and draws attention. At the same time, it is a successful example of counter-urbanism, showing how a welldesigned, exceptional building can reinforce the rule.
