București, Roumanie, 23-10-2017 - 

Until 2006 the site located at the intersection between B. Mumuleanu and Tunari Street was a neighborhood vulcanization shop for cars. Between 2006 - and February 2015 the site was empty and people were mistakenly using it as a place for garbage.

The building was commissioned by a private investor who was interested in revitalizing the zone and create a building that can house office spaces for rent. It was also desired to create a meeting point with the help of a fine restaurant, that displays one of the most exotic tastes .

Located near the intersection between Tunari Street and Stefan cel Mare Street, the building provides easy access to public transport, including subway.

The layout is developed around a central core that allows the creation of a generous open space with the possibility of various partitions.

The design reminds of the industrial buildings, where brick and cast iron elements defined this architectural language. By marking the horizontal register with metal profiles and the vertical with alternating glazed panels and ceramic plates, a slim volume is obtained.

“Stefan cel Mare building” is a sustainable investment with Class A materials and finishes and curtain walls with minimal energy consumption.

Before the end of the construction, the building was a success by being 100% rented; 4 clients occupying floors 1 to 9 and the ground floor rented by the restaurant. The open space of the building is very much appreciated due to the versatility of the partitioning.

Despite the small size of the site and its neighbors, the final result presents an integrated building in the urban context of the area.

After a creative and constructive two-year journey, the office building is BREEAM certified and received recognition from several competitions:

CIJ Awards 2016 - Best small office development of the year;

Bucharest Architecture Annual 2017 – Award for Corporate Architecture;

Romanian Building Awards 2017 – Nominated (awards November 6^th);

2017 American Architecture Prize – Architectural Design/ Commercial Architecture.

 

Data Sheet

Project name: Stefan cel Mare Building

Location: Bucharest, Romania

Budget: 5 467 000 euro

Start and completion dates: 2015-2016

Area: 11 159,3 sqm

Client: Tunari Plaza

Architects: Lauster & Radu Arhitecti

Project manager: Vitalis

Collaborators:

Cross Structural Design

Maestro Proiect

D&D Eurocom

AMB Design Project

Photo credits: Andrei Margulescu

Short bio

Lauster & Radu Arhitecti, founded in 1983, is currently working on numerous projects with a wide range of services. As a result, the company can accommodate all kinds of client's needs. One of the main principles is to bring high quality solutions in commercial, residential, institutional, urban planning and restoration projects.

The firm also has an office in New York - Mihai Radu Architects – which has currently an on call contract with the UN on interior design for their offices.

The lead architect, Mihai Radu, immigrated to the United States from Romania in the early eighties in order to practice the profession he embraced from an early age - Architecture and Design.

While still completing his Architecture studies at Pratt Institute, Mihai joined the prestigious I.M.Pei and Partners, where he spent seven years working on projects such as the Javitz Center in New York and Le Louvre Museum in Paris. Next, he joined Swanke Hayden Connell as an Associate Partner and led design teams on projects such as the Spitalfield Market Development and the New York Law School Library. He returned to Paris in 1990 as a Senior Designer, associated with Richard Meier Architects, to direct the completion of the Canal Project, a complex building for the largest private TV station in Europe.
Mihai is also an advisory board member of the Low Income Housing Fund, Pro Patrimonio Foundation and Infinity Foundation. He is also a professor of architecture and interior design at the School of Visual Art in New York.