Competition design for new research centre in Varaždin . Awarded  5th prize. 

 

The architectural proposal for the Innovation Center in Varaždin’s Technology Park is conceived as a synthesis of spatial intelligence, contextual sensitivity, and sustainable strategy. Challenging the default paradigm of ground-level occupation by parking, the design liberates the parterre to establish a cohesive public landscape that serves as a connective tissue between the existing, proposed, and potential future structures. This gesture not only redefines access but transforms the site into an active civic interface. A terraced volumetric form emerges as a precise response to regulatory setbacks, optimizing buildable volume while embedding the structure into its topography. The porous ground floor, articulated as a series of pavilion-like public programs, interweaves with the park fabric, forming a sequence of spatial thresholds between movement and repose. Above, the compact upper volume hosts flexible office spaces, its tectonic rationality reinforced by a robust concrete skeleton and a disciplined modular grid. Material articulation—balancing transparency and opacity—follows functional zoning and orientation, expressing a restrained, contemporary language. Sustainability is not an add-on but a generative design principle: from passive solar strategies and controlled permeability to integrated photovoltaics, water reuse, and thermal optimization. The roof, reconceived as an elevated plaza, returns the ground to the public realm, enabling vertical layering of shared functions. The project anticipates future extension through a mirrored formal logic, ensuring a resilient, coherent, and evolving architectural ecosystem.