DOT ENVELOPE - architeria.eu

DOT ENVELOPE - LOW COST SHOPPING

The existing site is listed as industrial historical area with buildings of an old butchery complex, which
included the water-tower and old butcher hall. Demand of National heritage was to rebuild the tower
as it was in original and to integrate the main façade portal of old hall in front of the planned new
shopping mall.

The client permission and expected plan was prefabricated concrete hall of 46x42x7 meters.
Interior and all internal finishing is done as “Mercator standard” – the standard which is prescribed
by shopping company’s chain for all their standard malls.

Construction Company budget was extremely limited; the part of their contract with Mercator was
a reference project – simple mall, built in village in northern part of Slovenia. (This mall had only front
façade with final façade finishing; the rest 3 facades were basic concrete). Exactly the same budget
had to be respected in this project and the same amount was listed in our contract.

The new shopping mall has customer approach and parking facilities on 3 sides of the building.
Therefore it was important to cover 3 sides with final decorative finishing with the budget of 1 side
only. After detailed calculation the budget for covering all elevations was at 60.000 EUR. The pattern
was based on different stepped elevations in order to soften basic cube shell. We took and calculated
the surface that would be needed for one side. The surface was divided into three elevated surfaces.

The surface which could fit into the budget for the facade was use of basic metal sheets which were
painted in bronze structured color. After cost evaluation only 20% of the concrete shell could be covered
with the metal sheets. So the sheets were perforated with holes in different sizes. Furthermore the cut
metal circles from the sheets were used and arranged on the rest of the façade surface. The use
of the holes and circle ornamental patterns were justified with the commercial merchant’s company
“Mercator pika* (*pika in slovene - dot)” (campaign for faithful customers). For the rest of the budget
which remained; the metal chain rope was created around the metal dots. In time the surface will be
covered with green climbing plants.

Sustainable Issues:
Climbing plants (evergreen) are placed around the building which will slowly cover the elevations
and will become eco-green.

Project data:
> Design team: Rok Oman, Spela Videcnik, Andrej Gregoric, Javier Carrera, Anna Breda, Luis Ferreira
Ana Kosi, Katja Aljaz
> Interior design: Mercator Optima
> Main client: Mercator d.d.
> Structural engineering: Projecta d.o.o.
> Mechanical engineering: ISP d.o.o.
> Electrical engineering: Eurolux d.o.o.
> Traffic engineering: Tegainvest d.o.o.
> Construction company: Gradis Skupina G d.d.
> Brutto surface including services: 2.000 m2
> Shop surface: 1.200 m2
> Old tower: 200 m2