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Conversion of Jurkovič Heating Plant
Sky Park by Zaha Hadid

Jurkovič Heating Plant is one of the last witnesses of the former Apollo refinery. Nowadays, the original industrial area has become part of the new Downtown of Bratislava and Jurkovič’s Heating Plant its cultural center and valuable contrast to the modern architecture of the new surrounding buildings.

The complex reconstruction of Jurkovič’s Heating Plant will make its rescue and its new sustainable concept a reality. Developer Penta Real Estate has invited 7 renowned architectural studios to design the national cultural monument. Our team won the prestigious competition and we became the drafters of the conversion of this iconic building, the original author of which is the legend of Slovak architecture Dušan Jurkovič. We have designed the most suitable arrangement of functions and spaces that will create the unique atmosphere of this national cultural monument. It is part of the Sky Park complex designed by Zaha Hadid Architects.

The architectural solution of the heating plant uses the free interior space in the boiler room and the turbine hall for the construction of new structures and creates new areas and floors. The reconstructed heating plant thus provide a unique industrial co-working space for people and companies from the creative industries, architects, start-ups, smaller IT companies and is open to the general public as well.

The intentionis to create a community space with a unique industrial atmosphere and spaces for the public intended for various social events, conferences, exhibitions, which would also offer a quality restaurant and café. After entering the building, the extraordinary attractive space of the entrance atrium opens up to all visitors with a view of the new elegant glass building, the inner “square” with a lobby café, a gallery, a restaurant, and an auditorium.

The solution highlights many historical construction details, the original columns, as well as the original material used in their preserved “rawness” and color.

New added constructions, new inserted materials with their distinguishable structure (added brick walls consisting of more than 31 000 original bricks with different laying methods, heraklith wallcladding, etc ..) and various current modern technicaldetails are legible and present the basic principle of “truthfulness“.

The industrial architecture of the original structures and dominant hoppers, the newly created atrium and the upperterrace with views of the surrounding new buildings provide an unique experience and is the greatest added value in the Jurkovič’s Heating Plant. They have become its symbols, the symbols of Sky Park and the capital of Bratislava itself.

Jurkovič Heating Plant has been awarded with the following awards:

  • Architecture MasterPrize Award 2022 Best of best in Guggenheim Modern Art Museum in Bilbao
  • Mies van der Rohe Award 2024 Nominee
  • BIGSEE Architecture Award 2022 Winner, Public and commercial architecture
  • Loop Design Awards 2022 Honorable Mention Winners Interior/Renovations
  • ICONIC Awards 2022 Innovative Architecture best of best JURKOVIČ HEATING PLANT
  • CIJ Award 2021 The Best Legacy Development
  • Dušan Jurkovič Award 2022
  • Building of the year 2020-21 Main Prize in the category Buildings and the Prize of the Ministry of Transport and Construction for a contribution to society as a whole in the field of architecture and construction
  • Nominee for CE.ZA.AR 2022 Award in the category Civil and industrial buildings
  • AnnualPrize of the Monuments and Museums review 2021 in the category – restoration and adaptation

High-resolution photos for download:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-0yJpKWaMLoZLzZfqJF-W8GFOd4pJUpg
Author: Boys Play Nice

Conversion of Jurkovič Heating Plant
Sky Park by Zaha Hadid

Jurkovič Heating Plant is one of the last witnesses of the former Apollo refinery. Nowadays, the original industrial area has become part of the new Downtown of Bratislava and Jurkovič’s Heating Plant its cultural center and valuable contrast to the modern architecture of the new surrounding buildings.

The complex reconstruction of Jurkovič’s Heating Plant will make its rescue and its new sustainable concept a reality. Developer Penta Real Estate has invited 7 renowned architectural studios to design the national cultural monument. Our team won the prestigious competition and we became the drafters of the conversion of this iconic building, the original author of which is the legend of Slovak architecture Dušan Jurkovič. We have designed the most suitable arrangement of functions and spaces that will create the unique atmosphere of this national cultural monument. It is part of the Sky Park complex designed by Zaha Hadid Architects.

The architectural solution of the heating plant uses the free interior space in the boiler room and the turbine hall for the construction of new structures and creates new areas and floors. The reconstructed heating plant thus provide a unique industrial co-working space for people and companies from the creative industries, architects, start-ups, smaller IT companies and is open to the general public as well.

The intentionis to create a community space with a unique industrial atmosphere and spaces for the public intended for various social events, conferences, exhibitions, which would also offer a quality restaurant and café. After entering the building, the extraordinary attractive space of the entrance atrium opens up to all visitors with a view of the new elegant glass building, the inner “square” with a lobby café, a gallery, a restaurant, and an auditorium.

The solution highlights many historical construction details, the original columns, as well as the original material used in their preserved “rawness” and color.

New added constructions, new inserted materials with their distinguishable structure (added brick walls consisting of more than 31 000 original bricks with different laying methods, heraklith wallcladding, etc ..) and various current modern technicaldetails are legible and present the basic principle of “truthfulness“.

The industrial architecture of the original structures and dominant hoppers, the newly created atrium and the upperterrace with views of the surrounding new buildings provide an unique experience and is the greatest added value in the Jurkovič’s Heating Plant. They have become its symbols, the symbols of Sky Park and the capital of Bratislava itself.

Jurkovič Heating Plant has been awarded with the following awards:

  • Architecture MasterPrize Award 2022 Best of best in Guggenheim Modern Art Museum in Bilbao
  • Mies van der Rohe Award 2024 Nominee
  • BIGSEE Architecture Award 2022 Winner, Public and commercial architecture
  • Loop Design Awards 2022 Honorable Mention Winners Interior/Renovations
  • ICONIC Awards 2022 Innovative Architecture best of best JURKOVIČ HEATING PLANT
  • CIJ Award 2021 The Best Legacy Development
  • Dušan Jurkovič Award 2022
  • Building of the year 2020-21 Main Prize in the category Buildings and the Prize of the Ministry of Transport and Construction for a contribution to society as a whole in the field of architecture and construction
  • Nominee for CE.ZA.AR 2022 Award in the category Civil and industrial buildings
  • AnnualPrize of the Monuments and Museums review 2021 in the category – restoration and adaptation

High-resolution photos for download:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-0yJpKWaMLoZLzZfqJF-W8GFOd4pJUpg
Author: Boys Play Nice