DCB Montana | Office Building in Slovenia

Urban catalyst

In 2019, the Dimnikcobau company organized an international competition to design the DCB business centre in the Moste industrial zone of Ljubljana. The project transcends the building’s functional character as an office space turning it into an urban catalyst, adding value to this suburban area which is historically linked to generic spaces for business and logistics.

Design Philosophy

The compact space of the new building, with the ground floor shaped like a rhomboid and 10 floors above ground level, is taller than neighboring buildings and dominates the landscape of the area. The diagonal displacement of the ground floor allows access to the central foyer consisting of a large atrium with a fluid shape and which goes up vertically to end in a skylight overhead. The atrium opens up to the exterior through two large windows that are the height of three levels, and which add a sculptural character to the space, allowing it to be bathed in natural light from two sides, as well as allowing views of the city’s outline and the mountainous Alpine scenery from its terraces.

The building has a ground level surface area of 12,556 m2 and 8,114 m2 below ground, occupied by three parking levels. The public area is located on the ground floor: a restaurant, a café, various meeting rooms, and a multifunctional gallery that can be used to host different events. The remaining nine levels are occupied with offices and common spaces. The central atrium coordinates the flow of people and maximizes the interaction between the different programs. Each level has four office modules that can be configured, combined or extended according to the requirements of the tenants.

Interior Layout and Façade

Both the covering of the interior and exterior facade seeks to dematerialize the volume mass by giving it a certain fragility and elegance. The exterior dark glass facade is covered with white brisesoleils sloping at different angles and placed at different progressions. While within the interior, the vertical foyer shaped around the atrium is covered with “L” and “Y” gilded anodized aluminum profiles whose tones change depending on the sun’s movements. The delicate treatment of the space and the surfaces, as well as the sensitive way that the detailing has been handled, have resulted in a building possessing high spatial richness at different scales.

Bioclimatic strategy

The central atrium, which crosses the building vertically, not only functions as a spatial axis, but also as a key element of its ventilation system. This space acts as a return duct for ventilation of the offices, extracting used air and pushing it upwards like a chimney. At the top of the atrium, an advanced climatic control system recovers the energy and humidity in the air before redistributing fresh air throughout the offices. The air conditioning system for the offices combines underfloor heating and cooling with low level individual fan coil units, which allows for accurate temperature control and guarantees maximum comfort for all users.