| CZ | Embassy

MSA | Münster School of Architecture, FH Münster

Project idea

the basic idea of the design is bringing together czech tradition with local circumstances.
the rational grid fassade is a traditional motive in prague, so the ambassador and the staff have a connection to their home country in such a different culture.
the triangle columns now let the building communicate with the uplifted rooftop structure, which is a common building technique, so the the air can flow underneath the roofop.
the triangle is a motive recognizable in many traditional ethiopian buildungs for example the menelik palace, but even in the czech flag.
on the outside of the border wall, there is enough space for ethiopan and czech artists to tell a story, which could reveal some information about czech and ethiopian history.
That lets the borders dissappear, so there is a deep connection between the czech republik and ethiopia, local and global.

Project description

after arriving at the embassy complex, you can either go to the western entrance, if you are a staff or visitor or you can go right, if you are invited on a representative event.
the representative entrance is garden and welcoming zone at the same time. after passing the representative garden, you are in the representative entrance hall, which is a open and wide place for communication.
from the representative entrance hall and the lounges you can see the water basin, which seperates the representative zone from the leisure zone.
the office sections are suitable seperated from the representative zone on the first floor. the sections itself are operationally grouped and conncted with a bridge across the representative entrance hall, so internal processes and
communication happens barrier free.
located on the second floor on is office section c. a high quality bathroom, a kitchen, a seperate backup battery and an office with no windows provide the highest security standard.
in the eastern part is the ambassador residence, which allows fast and unseen arrival and departure. the floors become more private, the higher you get.
the staff residence forms a square in the western part of the plot.
behind the whole complex, one can find the leisure space, which is easy accesible for the ambassador residence, the staff residence and the local workforce.
by pulling back the walls, the visa & consular building forms on the one side the represenative entrance garden and on the other side there is a public square generated, which rises the value off the whole public city area.

Technical information

the embassy is build in a very ecological way. walls out of rammed mud gives the inner rooms a very comfortable climate and provides a high thermic isolation.
the overlapping rooftop structure is the heart of the project. on the one hand it is like a second security skin, preventing terroristic assaults and on the other hand it provides a huge ecological benefit.
it collects all rain water during monsoon time and delivers it to the water basin behind the representative lounges to be collected in an underground cistern.
by seperating the roof from the lower building, the wind can transport the hot air away easy but reliable, as often proofed in ethipian architecture.

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