Europe House

EUROPE HOUSE
Bucharest, Romania
Construction 1999- 2001

Located in Bucharest, near Piata Victoriei, this office building re-establishes the «wall front» of Lascar Cartargiu Boulevard in an area that has seen successive attempts at urban definition.

Marking its role as an «edge» along the boulevard, the building shears its volume along two parallel layers. One volume is set on the boulevard, facing north, while the second is facing the back of the site towards south. The two volumes are separated by a demising wall clad in dark terra cotta panels that rise above the roof of the building. The wall reinforces the split between front and back and between the two types of office areas set within. The linear building core is organized on the south side of the demising wall, leaving the front volume clear for office space within a single structural span. The curtain wall that clads this volume enhances the purity of function by revealing the office activity behind clear floor-to-ceiling windows. The back building volume facing south, curves towards the corner of the building as it ‘hides' behind the demising wall and diminishes the visual impact from Piata Romana. Linear strip windows along the curved façade reinforce the shape and strike a clear contrast with the front façade. The setback penthouse on the front volume is covered with a thin, flat roof that enters in composition with the other opaque vertical walls of the building; the terra cotta clad shearing wall and the aluminum-clad wall that ends the front volume. The language of transparency and opacity, solid walls and large windows recalls the prewar modernist tradition in the city.