Old Printery

Located in Ljubljana, the former Mladinska knjiga printing house by Savin Sever is a key work of Slovenian modernism. The refurbishment retains its modular concrete frame and characteristic skylights, reinstates Sever’s intended cement-panel façade, and adapts the vast hall for contemporary cultural and creative programs while respecting the industrial character and material clarity of the original.

The main challenge was to preserve Sever’s expressive concrete structure while providing modern climatic performance. The thin concrete shell, once used to dissipate heat from printing presses, required a reversed logic: internal insulation and new glazing were introduced, maintaining visible concrete and the original roof prisms for daylight. Sever’s unbuilt façade concept of cement panels replaced the old brick cladding. A new south entrance with an amphitheatrical stair creates a public interior square that recalls the building’s industrial memory and enables contemporary events. The project demonstrates how post-war modernist heritage can be reactivated with minimal intervention and renewed social value.

The project is based on reuse of the existing reinforced concrete modular structure, dimensioned for heavy machinery and preserved in full. The new intervention applies the principle of minimum change and maximum reuse. Internal insulation and double glazing reversed the building’s original thermal logic while maintaining visible concrete and restoring roof prisms for natural daylight. Sever’s unrealized façade of cement panels replaced the brick cladding, improving energy efficiency and returning material coherence to the whole. The strategy minimized waste and embodied carbon through adaptive reuse. Maintenance is limited to periodic cleaning and protection of concrete and glazing, ensuring long-term sustainability, low cost, and technical clarity consistent with the building’s modernist ethos.