
GRAČANI HEALTH CLINIC


CASCADING SEQUENCE OF PUBLIC AREAS

URBAN LINK
PAVILION ON A NEW PUBLIC PLATEAU
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION,
NATURAL LIGHTING AND VIEWS










Gračani is a sparse settlement of family houses strongly defined by its geographical context.
It extends along both sides of a main road that follows a ridge surrounded by two valleys of a stream. The public facilities of this urban area are arranged linearly along this central spine of built structures. The differences in elevation in this area have been overcome by arranging the public areas on a cascading sequence of plateaus.
The Health Clinic continues this sequence by creating a new public plateau as a link between the upper and lower part of the settlement. The monolithic character of the reinforced concrete plateau continues the geometry of the natural layers of the terrain, covering and "hiding" the interior spaces below.
The edge of this urban cascade, and its connection to the lower part of the settlement, is signaled by a free-standing pavilion-like building. With its position and size, the pavilion retains the memory of the existing health center, and with its scale it fits into its immediate context.
The facade made of prefabricated concrete panels, with its visible connecting elements, follows the tradition of construction by assembling ready-made components. The "temporary" character of the prefabricated elements is in contrast to the monolithic expression of the artificial layers of the terrain below.
The recessed facade of the ground floor, with its "composite" character and shift away from the plane of the plateau, creates the sense of a floating plateau that shelters the interior from direct sunlight during the summer. The color, texture and wooden elements of the ground floor facade suggest a natural continuity of the park's ambiance into the interior.
LOCATION: Zagreb
CLIENT: Grad Zagreb, competition, 3rd PRIZE
YEAR: 2020
SIZE: 400 m2
COMPANY: ONDA ARHITEKTURA
COMPETITION DESIGN TEAM: Nika Dželalija, Marcela Ostroški, Krešimir Renić