THE EMBASSY OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC ADDIS ABEBA

CTU in Prague - Faculty of Architecture

Project idea

Our complex follows concept of rectangular masses conected with each other by airy arcade. The site is divided into seven zones - the southwestern zone with the consular and visa premises, the eastern zone including administrative part of the embassy, the middle, representative, zone (including representative part of the embassy and the residence of the ambassador), the mid-west zone including the private part of the residence, the western part of the embassy area with employee housing and sports ground and the western zone of the site next to the embassy area including housing for local employees.
The embassy area was designed with respect to the legacy of the czech architecture, that we concern as a abstemious, clear but sophisticated. Our concept honors this legacy with its clarity and simplicity, but also its coherence.

Project description

The embassy area has a main entrance on the south and there is an access to the garage ramp. This entrance security check works also for the employee housing.
There is a second access on the north, which serves for the residence of the ambassador.
The embassy is divided into two parts, representative and administrative. The representative part is created by an entrance hall working as a gallery and a two storey balroom hall with cosy fireplace, dinning room and entrance to the representative garden. The dinning room is connected to the roofed outdoor place, usable as a outdoor dinning place.
The administrative part is interlaced with three atriums, into which the most important offices are facing in. In the underground floor there are mainly situated technical and kitchen services. There is also located the administrative part C, which is facing into an atrium. There is a conection with the consular and visa premises (CVP).
The CVP is accessible from the south-east part of the site. There is also an employee access from the inside of the area. We created a new road, which separates the CVP and a parking lot.
The entrance for the residence of the ambassador is located on the north side of the site. There is a garage next to the residence with a flat for a janitor conected with the residence by the arcade.
On the left side of the residence there is a private part, which contains the ambassador's flat with a huge roof terrace and a private garden. On the right side there is a representative part, which includes big dining room with longue separated by movable partitions and representative garden connected with a representative garden of the embassy and connected by wide arcade with the embassy entrance hall.
The employee housing is located on the west side of the site. Flats on the groundfloor are provided with private gardens and flats on the first floor have teraces. It is a part of the employee complex with sports ground and pool.
Next to the embassy area on the west is situated a housing for local employees with common area (including laudry, workroom...).

Technical information

Facades are composed by the rainforced concrete frames with perforated brickwork filling. The brickwork works as a shadowing component and it is placed in steel frames with rails, so it is possible to move with it and regulate the amount of sunlight.
The interior details in the ballroom are made of wood as well as some exterior details.
There is a water-retaining system in the roof. Under the covering layer there are shallow basins, which retain water to cool the structure of the roof and ceiling. There are spillways in case of intense rain, which take water through the tube system into collecting tanks in the underground storageroom. This water is lately used as a supply water.

Co-authors

doc. ing. arch. Zdeněk Rothbauer, ing. arch. Vojtěch Sosna, ing. arch. Karel Filsak, ing. arch. Veronika Kovářová

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