The Lamač Suburban Shopping Centre is one of the most ambitious examples of commercial architecture built in Slovakia at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s. It represents a rare attempt to adapt the principles of suburban shopping centres, which were developing primarily in Western Europe and North America at the time, to the conditions of socialist Czechoslovakia. Unlike traditional department stores located in historic city centres, the building was deliberately situated at a motorway interchange on the western outskirts of Bratislava, on the route towards Brno and Prague, and designed to cater to motorists. Its urban concept was based on the idea of a shopping centre as a destination in its own right. Located in the immediate vicinity of the Lamač-Podháj housing estate, it also served as a local amenity for residents.
The architectural expression of the building is based on the contrast between its enclosed perimeter and open interior space. The low, horizontal mass is articulated by a rhythm of vertical precast reinforced-concrete fins, interrupted by a single glazed surface marking the main pedestrian entrance. The roof is the dominant compositional feature and, at the same time, a remarkably progressive design solution: accessed via two ramps with angular turns, it served as a car park accommodating more than two hundred vehicles. The roof is accentuated by a central skylight, which also functions as an entrance from the parking area.
The internal layout is organised around a central multi-level hall, from which individual retail units on the raised ground floor were accessible, while storage and technical facilities were located along the perimeter of the building. This arrangement distinguishes the building from the traditional department store model, characterised by a single unified sales floor, and brings it closer in its spatial organisation to later shopping centres. The main hall is characterised by a monumental double-flight staircase, a gallery running around the central space, and distinctive timber ceilings. The load-bearing structure consists of a precast reinforced-concrete frame using the Integro system, which enabled the creation of large-span retail spaces free of internal obstructions while also supporting the load imposed by the rooftop car park.
author of the description: Karolína Králiková
Bibliography:
Čížek P.: Prímestské nákupné stredisko v Bratislave. Konštrukcia ako formotvorný činiteľ. Projekt 22, 1980, . 7. s. 23- 24.
Dulla, M.. Obchodný dom Lamač v Bratislave. Projekt 30, 1988, č. 9, s. 29 - 33.
MORAVČÍKOVÁ, Henrieta - TOPOLČANSKÁ, Mária - SZALAY, Peter - DULLA, Matúš - ŠČEPÁNOVÁ, Soňa - TOSCHEROVÁ, Slávka - HABERLANDOVÁ, Katarína. Bratislava, atlas sídlisk. Bratislava, Atlas of Mass Housing. Bratislava : Slovart, 2011. 341 s. 236.
