R2C
Remodelling of R2 building in Bucharest
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Former R2 cantina in Politehnica Bucuresti Complex
Undisclosed
L
Completed
Ionuț Anton, Dana Tănase
2012
We were commisioned the remodelling of the former R2 building in the Politehnica Bucuresti Complex, a project that we tackeled a way back. Then the program was an educational center, now it is a mixed use of etertainment facilities: a large club, a restaurant, a dining hall. Our idea throughout the project was to take into account the existing building siluete and architecture and work with that. With the ocasion of a structural refurbishment the building underwent drastic changes in the interior partitioning so that it would handle the vision of our clients for one of the best clubs Bucharest could offer.
Starting from the idea of etertainment and that the building would attract a high number of users we developed a facade wrapping for the whole second floor, which would host the club and needed almost no direct communication with the exterior. Maintaining the original idea of a volume lifted from the ground held by a row of perimetral columns we developed a facade made out of a translucid membrane that would give a neutral white volume during the day and would be lit up using controlled LED lighting during the evening, transforming the whole building in a beacon for the area. The proposed volume was developed using simple planes and lines, it’s shape was searched using an algorithm developed in Grasshopper for this specific purpose. We used Grasshopper also for the structural elements of the facade and developed a BIM model that allowed us a smooth exchange with our structural team.
We also made a proposal for the interior of the first floor club in which the central element was a LED mesh suspended in a void in the central area. The clients wish was to have sufficient height for such a large space so we enlarged the central area with another level, creating a void space to host the focal point of the club. The LED mesh was developed also with Grasshopper and Kangaroo as a force based mesh that would be suspended only on two upper rings and the perimeter, creating a transition between two circular points and the rectangular border.
Unfortunately nor the exterior, nor the interior passed and the client chose to develop other solutions.
Brilliant work, would love to see pictures of the end product as well.