Technological center resembling a modern orangery

Near the Neo-Gothic castle in the village of Kamenice, a new technological center has arisen two years ago as an extension of the Strojmetal company’s facilities. The building’s appearance resembles a historical orangery, fully respecting the castle area.

Kamenický Strojmetal is primarily engaged in manufacturing in the automotive industry and developing superconducting materials. As part of the company’s development, there was a demand to expand its facilities with a new technological center for the development and diagnostics of its own products, which, according to the investor's initial idea, was to be located directly in the historical object of the castle. However, considering the building's structural condition and the craft complexity of its restoration, combined with constraints related to the preservation of the building, this original plan resulted in a new intention – to construct a new building. According to the architects' design from the architectural studio ABTSMOLEN, the object was inspired by the earlier glass garden structures, so-called orangeries, belonging to the castle complex.

From the perspective of the castle building, the technological center creates the impression of a single-story building. In reality, however, it consists of two floors. As described by the architects from ABTSMOLEN: “We placed the part of the building with noisy technologies in the basement floor embedded in the natural terrace of the wall, which is accessible from the opposite side through the historic stone fortification. The laboratories and administrative spaces then remained in the above-ground glass part.” The interior of the upper floor of the technological center, which fully acknowledges its technical purpose, has a pleasant visual connection with the surrounding greenery, which fills the space between the two buildings.

The interior space of the technological center is characterized by a regular grid of steel frame structures and striking yellow floors. The white door panels blending with the walls on the first floor and the black contrasting doors in the basement use Meclis handles with round roses from the Czech manufacturer M&T. “For this specific realization, stainless steel handles Meclis were chosen in the Project class 4 variant, which is suitable for high-traffic areas with the expectation of frequent use,“ describes Roman Ulich, the chief designer at M&T, adding: “The handles in this variant are additionally fire-resistant and highly resistant to mechanical wear and unwanted corrosion.”

Strojmetal Aluminium Forging, Kamenice

Realization: 2017 - 2019

Area: 1,700 m²

Photographer: Michal Ureš

Architects: Ing. arch. Štěpán Abt and Ing. arch. Ďuro Smoleň, ABTSMOLEN, www.abtsmolen.cz