Residential and Commercial Building – Ruzveltova

The building is located in the central city area, within a densely built urban fabric and forms an integral part of a continuous row with two shared walls adjoining neighboring buildings. Access from the street leads to the ground floor, where vertical circulation, parking and the access to the underground level are located. The building vertically is divided into three programmatic units – parking in the underground level and partially on the ground floor, commercial units on the ground floor, and residential units spanning the upper floors. The first three floors each have 5 residential units, while the last two floors have 4 residential units each.

Due to the narrow street front, angled walls are used to enable larger openings and more natural light into the interior of the apartments. The exterior walls of the apartments facing the street are angled and oriented along the street in the direction of the mountain Vodno. The terraces adjoining these walls are carefully designed with the same angled geometry and material treatment, creating a seamless extension of the facade’s dynamic form and reinforcing the building’s overall architectural coherence and visual continuity. This way, the view toward the mountain is opened up, while simultaneously reflecting the dynamics from the interior space to the exterior form of the building. The residential units are thoughtfully oriented toward the two open sides of the building. This orientation naturally shapes a functional division on each floor into three distinct zones, on one side are the living rooms towards the street, on the opposite are the bedrooms towards the backyard positioned along the bright airy sides to create comfortable and inviting environments. The central zone houses the auxiliary rooms, stairs and sanitary facilities providing core that enhances privacy and efficient spatial organization.

A distinctive feature of the building is the deliberate use of tactile, textured materials on the facade segments surrounding the terraces, areas frequently interacted with by residents and providing a warm, inviting contrast to the smooth, minimalist white finish that characterizes the rest of the facade. This contrast creates a balanced interplay between texture and simplicity, highlighting both functionality and aesthetic appeal.