Design of a diplomatic mission

Poznań University of Technology (Politechnika Poznańska), Faculty of Architecture, Poznań

Project idea

security, function, context.

While designing the embassy, ​​security has become an indispensable criterion. The model of safe architecture began to be payed special attention to after September 11, 2001, when terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York occurred. The idea of ​​a safe architectural design combines European features with the African context. The embassy plays the representative role of the country, symbolizes the nation and builds national identity. After carrying out an urban analysis and correcting it with the criteria of the project, an axial layout of the plot development plan was created, inspired by the symbol of the Czech Republic flag. The symmetry is a feature of monumental assumptions, and the surrounding wild and organic landscape allows you to feel the building even more geometrically. The shadow screen system allows you to completely cover the windows of the embassy. They are made of thin concrete, fixed on automatically movable rails placed in the ceilings on the width of the storey.

A Czech state republic on a plot of land in the capital of Ethiopia. What connects both countries is the pride of the country, which is symbolized by beautiful landscapes - Czech rock towns and temples in the laterite Ethiopian rocks. Organic landscape shapes permeate through buildings, enclosed in high elevation catching towers, which have an additional function of ventilating the building. They create a contrast between the concrete material used in the building and a mixture of laterite rocks obtained on site and shade-loving plants. The walls of the building are made of dyed concrete in iron ore colors like the Ethiopian lands, along with a wood-like texture. Another natural material is the bamboo construction appearing on the ceiling in the conference room and on the finishing façade in metal frames and connectors, creating a double curtain wall.

In Addis Ababa there is a moderately warm, oceanic climate. The most precipitation occurs in Summer and can amount to about 263 mm. On the fifth façade, a water collection system and individual roof tanks have been created which are used for the gray water system in the building. Water is collected by containers on the roof, which are connected to each other. After exceeding the set height, water flows through the building, up to the pumping station, where it can be discharged into a water reservoir or used as water for watering the garden. The water used in the car wash in the garage is used again thanks to its own cleaning station.

Project description

Exterior strategy
The plot is divided into a public zone (parking lot and a small foreground with a high gate in front of the visa and consular department) and a private area with three entries opened by a guard (main entrance, west entrance for staff and workforce, accessible to authorized people from a closed private road and entrance for private cars in the north - east corner). During larger events, the eastern gate will be opened. The representative garden is a pedestrian only zone. The strong shape of the triangle is surrounded by buildings set on the platform, to symbolically raise the building above ground level. A composition of shrub and woody plants (Eucalyptus gunnii, Robinia pseudoacacia, Yucca filamentosa, Dracaena fragrans, Yushania alpina - African alpine bamboo, Parthenocissus tricuspidata) surround the side of the fence. On the plot there are several zones such as an outdoor gym with a sports square surrounded by greenery (in the apartment building there is an integration room with a game of table tennis and billiards) and a tucul for a campfire in the Ethiopian hearth. In the garden there is a platform for the ambassador and guests during interviews and the organization of external events. The platform is located near a dining area and a closed square, closed by movable walls, as a place of free arrangement of tables which can also be outside or during the ball at the embassy. The second square with a high open gate, which is incorporated as a symbol of openness is a place for meetings of visitors or for groups of employees going from apartments to work. The square connects visually with the flags on the platform. The composition of the stone coating on the representative front creates retaining walls, hiding the entrance to the underground garage, and the water visually enlarges the scale of the object. The special guests drive up to the main entrance and give their car the lodge porter, who parks the car in the underground car park, or can go around the water tank, which allows you to view the feature also from a distance. The large foreground makes it easier to observe the plot.

Interior strategy
The Visa and Consular Department is divided into public and private areas. Access to the area is provided by an employee. In the glass vestibule, the vertical tower illuminates the interior and gives the impression of a person enclosed in a glass box. These green towers bring attention and connect with nature. Employees come to work through the entrance from the square.
In the official part there are two entrances to the building for the classification of people passing through the building. There are three representative lounges with coffee tables and a special entry system using binary features. On the first floor there is a conference room with a view of the garden. In a separate part there is section B + C - Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Administration. On the top floor there are offices section A + D. In the ambassador's apartment the center is represented by a representative staircase.
The ambassador goes to the day zone, directly to the large living room with a private rooftop garden.
In the residential buildings there is an integration room with a pool table and table tennis table. The layout of the apartments allows you to combine 4 + 1 type flats with a courier flat and other configurations. Warehouses are located in the underground part, next to the laundry room and the technical department connected to the apartment building."
A residential building for a workforce is separated by a fence, however, it is a continuation of the axis line and departs the system.

Technical information

Applied building security:
The creation of a safety zone is applied by moving buildings away from parking lots and boundaries of a minimum of 10 meters.
- ordered public zone with a parking lot and a small square, devoid of dense bushes and garbage containers that are flammable. Limiting poles and flat space is constantly monitored
- private area - gates used as a vehicle control point, entry point, mail switching station
- a closed garbage storage area with garbage truck access under employee control
- 300 cm openwork concrete fence, trees removed from the fence and buildings by 5 m and shrubs by 2.5 m. Plants with rare crowns - undercut or formed at a height of up to 3 m for the visibility of the plot
- the plot is well lit, constantly supervised and monitored (video surveillance, intrusion and access control systems), also external monitoring of streets
- intense air secured against the possibility of a thrown explosive, placed in a closed zone in the basement, with the inclusion of air intake and launcher high on the wall of the facade
- the bearing structure subjected to the impact of the shock wave is to bend and not break and does not lose its stability, the elements of the supporting structure are not available - hidden under the crowning platform. The monolithic reinforced concrete structure is the most resistant to the effects of the explosion by its own heavy weight and delays the shockwave. The system of load-bearing walls - bracing and plates as well as supporting support pillars of increased durability and load capacity by using the heads of so-called mushrooms and decreasing the value of the structural module. strengthening the outer edges of the slab panels with a lintel beam.
- a symmetrical cross-shaped reinforcement of the surface of the partitions - ceilings and walls, supports as the walls than the pillars in the majority were used, closed stirrups were used along the entire length of beams and columns
-turns, receptions and meeting rooms are designed as a form of cubature added to the building on the principle of a "box in a box", separated by dilatation
- reinforcement and encapsulation of specially protected rooms - the ambassador's residence, the ambassador moves on the inner axis of the building. In the case of events in the conference room he moves from the office through a connector
- interiors used chemically bound ceramics absorbing the energy of explosion (shock attemanting chemically bonded ceramics, and resin aramid fiber mats, which were used to protect the construction of military ammunition and highway spans
-glass curtain walls and windows are layered laminated safe and equipped with mesh catching glass chips. bullet-proof and anti-tank panes, made of many sheets of glass with foil separators, mounted in the light of the window together with a grate catching fragments of glass. Explosion-proof windows - gluing laminated polycarbonate sheets alternately with glued glass fixed with very solid frames
- blast curtains, which are loaded along the lower and upper edges by strips of dense metal mesh, the glass set consists of at least an outer pane of tempered glass with a thickness of 6 mm and inner glass tabla
- window opening from the side of the closed garden, high and narrow windows outside
- the devices on the roof are firmly attached to the ground so that they are not dropped in the event of an explosion
The walls are made of monolithic concrete, and the lightweight structure of the upper part is a metal light breaker with elements of bamboo.

Co-authors

Consulting Teacher: Prof. Agata Bonenberg, Ph.D., D.Sc. Architect

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