Industrial Design – Bratislava’s Heating Plant Turned Co-Working Space

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• Industrial Design – Bratislava’s Heating Plant Turned Co-Working Space

21 February 2022 | Updated 23 February 2022

The Jurkovič Heating Plant was a central part of Bratislava’s industrial centre and has been extensively renovated to preserve as many industrial design elements as possible.

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Bratislava’s Jurkovič Heating Plant is one of the few remaining indicators of the city’s industrial history. Built on the grounds of a mineral oil refinery, it fell into disrepair after its closure.

Although the site was declared a National Cultural Monument in 2008, it would take another decade for reconstruction to begin. After a three-year renovation, the space is now a modern co-working centre - Base4Work.

In total, there are 3,900 square metres of flexible working space with a capacity of approximately 450 places in the heating plant.

Picture: a photograph of the interior of Base4Work showing a landing space. Image Credit: BoysPlayNice via LINKA

Concrete Hoppers – Unique Spaces for Co-Working

According to LINKA, the competitive advantage of co-working spaces lies in their uniqueness, and this space is dominated by coal hoppers and original brickwork.

The concrete fuel storage hoppers contain meeting spaces within them and architect Ján Antal notes that it’s these meeting rooms that are the most popular:

“This is where we took advantage of the location and experimented with glazing in parts of the floor. The result is an iconic space that everyone wants to see. Even those who are afraid of heights.”

Picture: a photograph of the interior of Base4Work showing the full height of the ceiling. Image Credit: BoysPlayNice via LINKA

Distinguishing Between the Old and the New

Architects DF Creative Group placed a new five-storey building in the interior of the boiler and turbine hall, which created a striking new area that is visually discernible from the original historic structure.

Additionally, the restored original crane forms the open ceiling of the shared office. 

Editor's note: Content Credit to Ján Antal, Martin Stára, Barbora S. Babocká from Studio Perspektiv and Martin Paško of DF Creative Group. Original Content link

Main Picture: a photograph of the exterior of the heating plant. Image Credit: BoysPlayNice via LINKA

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 21 February 2022

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