The four-storey atrium building with an open ground floor in Ružová dolina was originally designed as the headquarters of the Research Institute of Construction Economics and Organization. Architect Karol Paluš, in collaboration with Jozef Chovanec, concealed a surprisingly bold layout behind a balanced façade with large, continuous asymmetrically divided windows.
The structural double-tract office layout winds around an internal atrium, across which connecting ramps linked the individual floors. The interior corridors were separated by Copilit glass partitions, which, while providing optimal acoustic insulation, also ensured even daylight distribution throughout the building. This exceptional work was awarded the Dušan Jurkovič Prize by the Association of Slovak Architects.
The complex also includes a single-storey elongated volume (originally intended to house a Minsk computer). Between the two parts, a small open-air space was created, the so-called “stone garden,” featuring an artistic wall relief.
In 2006, the building underwent a significant reconstruction for the needs of the Cadastral Office. While the exterior façade retained its elegant character, the inventive internal ramps were replaced by an elevator, and the Copilit partitions have not been preserved.
author of the description: Monika Bočková
Bibliography:
-hl-: Príklad exaktnej architektúry. Projekt 10, 1968, 2, s. 36 – 39.
KUSÝ, Martin: Architektúra na Slovensku 1945 – 1975. Pallas, Bratislava 1976.
DULLA, Matúš: Architektúra šesťdesiatych rokov. In: Šesťdesiate roky v slovenskom výtvarnom umení. (Katalóg výstavy.) SNG, Bratislava 1995, s. 304 – 319.
DULLA, Matúš – MORAVČÍKOVÁ, Henrieta: Architektúra Slovenska v 20. storočí. Bratislava, Slovart 2002. 512 s., tu s. 430.
