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Architects: MVA
- Area: 974 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Jure Živković
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Manufacturers: Kingspan Insulated Panels, Hormann
Text description provided by the architects. The CZO Building (Center for Environmental Protection) is located in the Municipality of Krapinske Toplice, in the northwestern part of Croatia. The building contains both the office and service spaces of the local Voluntary Fire Brigade. It is conceived as a mono-volume of a varying profile – both in plans and in sections. The building includes a central two-story office core, multiple spaces for vehicles and equipment, and a fire tower.
The white metal envelope is made of insulated panels in combination with expanded metal mesh. The envelope is carried by a combined construction - a reinforced concrete core in the middle and a light steel skeleton in the rest of the building.
The functions of spaces are clearly distinct by materials - white metal ‘rooms’ contain the vehicles, the work and leisure spaces are finished in raw concrete, and the firefighters’ communication routes are marked by the intense red color surfaces.
The tower is primarily used for firefighters’ training but is also a landmark, a sign in the landscape. Its steel structure, visible through the metal mesh 'curtain', is clearly showing the utilitarian character of the architecture.
