Week 13: THE BADEL BLOCK

Case Study

The project begins with making a direct link between the former building and the preserved façade. Treating several façade as a gateway, the plan pulls in the existing context of an active street market into the heart of a site cut-off from the city for decades while avoiding direct replication of the area’s pervasive perimeter block.

Based on the case study from a Badel Block Complex proposal by Luka Anic, Danko Balog, Tamara Baresic and Srdan Gajic, the Badel Block is surrounded by a steel space-frame grid rising to the top floor of the existing block structure. Spaces beneath the space-frame grid contain the existing building and several additional new blocks. It is closed with an invisible façade from the raised grid, extrude of small sky and ground scrapers. Leaving holes in the raised grid unfilled, making the space underneath it a park. The park functions as a large open public space covered partially with a large roof, networked by a system of paths linking the wider area; ground-scraper landings make for small sunken public plazas. The existing building with its heritage protected façade remain as charming; becomes a focal point of the park, a pavilion; acting as a gateway to the park. The variation of buildings and public spaces all together; forms a huge block.

An integration of these activities; fulfilling a wider area; turning it into a pedestrian street; allowing tramways and connectivity towards public spaces; making the street and market across it overlaid with trees, connecting these spaces to the green public park and adding volume to the exposed market, integrated with the position of high rise, considering the existing building blocks, leaving them as much isolation and free space as possible.

The platform is then filled with shops, galleries, restaurants, cafes and community spaces. Ground-scrapers containing offices, provide access to the platform, creating the connectivity network, allowing the connection towards other skyscrapers that can functions as a hotel or residential apartments. Two or more sets of panoramic elevators in the park present an additional connection with the platform; having the stairways and cargo lifts spread across the site. A network of pedestrian pathways spread across the park connects the site with all the surrounding streets.

Therefore, Badel Block concept is a mixed-use proposal to guide the site’s redevelopment. With an additional link extending the axis of the micro blocks; extending the micro blocks on the plaza; creating porosity for visual and physical connectivity. This subdivision makes more street level surface area for new retail and restaurant program. While the courtyards of each micro block create a gradation of conditions between public and private. The new covered public plaza where various facilities will be shuffled together providing a large selection of opportunities of interactions. Scattered micro blocks is being organized together with a combination of passages, courtyards, squares and terraces along the public space; linking all together the main public spaces of the new building; will also be the pillar to support the roof construction; creating a platform for the spaces above ground. It unifies the plaza and provides a huge shelter to the public expressions. Under a colourful high ceiling, street life can spread and flourish.

The overall form is only a recommended maximum envelope. Like rocks, we imagine the massing can be carved. The micro blocks can be interpreted in various ways, in various combinations: as maximized envelopes where the sloped surfaces imply internal voids suggesting shares uses as finely stepped ‘ziggurats’ creating a maximum of roof gardens; or as an aggregate made over time with multiple owners with different financial motives and tastes, similar to Zagre’s flexible precedent, the Endowwmnet Block from the 1930s. The design ultimately works to secure durable urban conditions supporting negotiation and participation

Generous volumes into the roof allow the plaza to continue inside the building and facing the cityscape, as a stage being seen, giving to see unprecedented views at the very top of the building. Structure structurally, the platform consists of a system of horizontal and diagonal steel beam and steel pillars in the 16 meter grid. The structure of the high-rises is a steel-frame construction, formed by steel pillars filled with concrete, set at a distance of 16 meters, with diagonal and horizontal steel beams connecting the pillars. The platform is supported by the seven high-rises, positioned across the site. Both the platform’s and the high-rises’ facades are clad is glass. The underground garage is supported by concrete pillars in an 8x8 grid. There are two garage entrances on each of these three levels, containing 157 parking spaces.

The design approach establishes a parametric construction ring tailored to the existing buildings. The urban awareness is one of the key principles to enhance the quality of the building environment in order to create attractive, high amenity environments people will chose to live in, work and visit. Different shapes, different sizes and different uses sued to enhance the continuous-discontinuously that defines cities – with gaps and passages that encourages visiting the block interior.

For sustainability proposed solution, it minimizes its carbon footprint by offsetting it with a large number of newly planted trees. The large flat roof of the platform presents a great potential for placement of solar panels and rainwater collectors. 

Presenting an opportunity to create a new centre for the locals as well as a new entrance for the city through the ‘Communities of a Single Roof’ design, remaining largely undeveloped in the urban city centre and considering the relative lack of public space and facilities as well, the proposal of Badel Block Complex introduces new spatial configurations to the city centre, opening the block area to public access and use; extending the square and market inside the Badel Block and enlarge the space devoted to culture and leisure in order to strengthen the sense of community and centrality. Its justification can be found, apart from the apparent economical argument, in the term of density. A dense city is a live, vibrant city. Multiplicity of people, events and spaces makes a city. And high quality density is what some of the cities are lacking of.By definition, a block closes itself in. Whatever is behind the perimeter, is secluded and can be reached only by cutting through the perimeter. Seclusion, however leads to particularization of spaces rather than integration and the latter is what we seek.