Embassy of the Czech Republic in Addis Abeba / Ethiopia

Odessa State Academy of Construction and Architecture, Architectural and Art's Institute, Odessa

Project idea

The main idea is to combine the official embassy and residence buildings into a single volume, while the functional planning solution does not intersect the building. The remaining buildings of the complex are stylistically subordinated to the official building of the embassy and the residence. The main form of buildings in the plan is a circle. This forum in the official embassy building allows all offices to be connected with one corridor. The round shape in the plan allows you to block the conference room with a shell of steel elements with partial glazing. This allows you to evenly illuminate the conference room during the daytime, as well as evenly illuminate a long corridor on the second floor.

Project description

The projected object is the Czech Embassy in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). The complex consists of 5 buildings. The official building of the embassy and the residence have a circular shape in the plan, buildings for the embassy employees are regular rectangular, the visa and consular department is irregular in shape formed by arcs and represents a single whole with the entrance area to the embassy territory. The overall dimensions of the complex are 42,500x33,200mm. The complex is designed with the use of monolithic reinforced concrete bearing elements.
The building is a frameless system. The conference hall of the correct round shape (radius 7.8m) is overlaid with a mesh sheath with partial glazing.
The constructive system of the official embassy and residence building is an incomplete frame, with round bearing walls in plan.
In the designed building, the use of pile foundations is supposed (Figure 1). The precast reinforced concrete piles of square section with dimensions of 300x300 mm are used. Concrete for piles adopted class strength C20 / 25, brand waterproof W6, brand frost resistance F75. Dive method - indentation. The rostver is designed with a height of 400mm in the form of bushes of piles under the columns and a solid reinforced concrete slab under the elevator shaft. Concrete for grillage adopted class strength C25 / 30, brand waterproof W6, brand frost resistance F75.
To protect the foundations from water and moisture, mastic waterproofing and additional polyurethane materials are used, which provide excellent water resistance, chemical and thermal resistance. Mastic materials are resistant to abrasion, section and impact, resistant to solutions of acids, alkalis, oil products and microorganisms.
To exclude capillary suction, the ground part of the walls is isolated from the foundations by horizontal waterproofing at the level of the lower basement floor. Horizontal waterproofing is installed in two layers of roofing material on bitumen mastic.
The possibility of wetting the basement with rain and melt waters is excluded by the blind area of ​​dense waterproof material arranged on the outer edges of buildings. The blind area from the building has a slope of 3%.
In the designed object, columns and walls protrude as vertical bearing elements. Their location is the same on all floors (one below the other).
The columns are made of round section with a diameter of 300 mm and load-bearing walls with a thickness of 510 mm (for the official embassy building), 300 mm. Columns are made of reinforced concrete, concrete class C20 / 25. The outer walls are reinforced concrete. Internal partitions - reinforced concrete.
Horizontal bearing elements (floor slabs and coverings) of the complex are located at different levels and are made of concrete of class C20 / 25 and A400C reinforcement.
The span of more than 15 meters is overlapped by a shell of steel elements, which is supported by a monolithic reinforced concrete wall with a thickness of 500 mm.
The drainage system from the roof is designed for the internal drainage system of water dropping into the reservoir water storage in the basement, for further use.
Monolithic reinforced concrete three-mid-flight ladders from monolithic reinforced concrete of class C16 / 20 are used in the building and reinforced with reinforcing meshes and spatial frameworks to give strength.
The complex is designed passenger and freight elevators. Elevator shafts are made of monolithic reinforced concrete, concrete class C20 / 25 with a wall thickness of 300 mm.
The facades of the building are designed in a modern style that fit into the existing building.
Plaster, wooden slats, concrete blinds are used in the buildings of the designed object.
The floors.
Lobby, corridors, trade pavilions, dining rooms - ceramic tiles.
Administrative premises - parquet floors.
Utility rooms, bathrooms, showers - ceramic tiles are additionally provided for vapor barrier and waterproofing.
Conference room - floating floor design

Walls.
Plaster, painting, finishing with decorative panels.
Conference hall - made of special acoustic plates.
Ceilings.
In dry rooms - multi-layered soundproof stretch ceilings "CeruttiNext".
In wet areas - moisture resistant plasterboard with putty and paint.
In the conference room - mesh shell of steel elements with partial glazing, the rest of the shell is covered with steel plates with a polymer coating.
Window.
The complex uses glazing SunGuard HP - a multifunctional glass with magnetron coating based on silver. The product combines the functional benefits of ClimaGuard heat saving glass and the ease of processing SunGuard solar glass.

Technical information

2.2 Space-planning solutions of the building
No. Name of Unit. rev. Qty
1. Land area 13 304m2
2. Building area of 1 907m2
3. Roads, driveways, entrances, grounds 3,000m2
4. Gardening of the territory of 8 397m2
5. Building density 14.3%
6. Density of gardening 63%

Co-authors

Sniadovski Yrii Aleksandrovich