cherub I

A simple mass principle of this design is based on working with breaking one compact volume. First, it follows up the gable wall of the building in the Na Zatlance street. It forms a loop or a wave above the entry area in front of the building creating a four-storied roofed entry area. The directions in which the masses break respond to those present in the area – that is the street line of the Plzeňská street, its break towards the portal of the Strahovský tunnel and the direction of the bridge between the tunnels. A five-storied high “lintel” above the entrance forms a monumental gate while allowing a view into the tidy interior of the block. In addition, working with the tilt of some edges – and namely those facing the bridge and above the Kováků street introduces additional dynamics to the whole composition. Here, the office building and the sports hall are integrated into a single mass. This way the designed volume reaches to the school’s west dead gable wall where it is connected to it via a new circulation opening. The building’s envelope is a network of diagonal structural members. Their function is structural (a Vierendeel girder above the entrance) and sun shading. Glazing is installed behind this visually distinctive layer. On the contrary, the envelope of the “inner” parts facing the courtyard is a smooth curtain wall – consisting of structural glazing. The entry area to Plzeňská naturally concentrates all entrances to the building (retail and services on the ground floors and the entrance lobby for both office wings). Offices are composed as a standard three-winged scheme allowing open plan as well as cell offices in the outer wings and service areas in the central wing. The school sports hall that is part and the condition of the plan is partly recessed in the basement. This arrangement allows placing two more office stories above the hall.