DARS Business Centre, Ljubljana

The new DARS business building in the motorway maintenance base area in Grič, near the western Ljubljana ring road, implements the principles of spatially meaningful, conceptually convincing and responsible architectural design, creating an energy-efficient, sustainable and modern working environment with a high degree of flexibility.

The building, which entered into use in early 2025, is based on a spatially compact design selected in an architectural competition in 2019. The client was looking for a solution that would enable long-term adaptability of use with a sustainable design. The competition brief specifically emphasised the need for an adaptable workspace. Due to constant changes in the structure and number of employees, the building should allow for changes in office occupancy and the size of individual departments throughout its entire life cycle.

The expert jury selected an almost cube-shaped building with a clear spatial and urban logic, and a specific user and construction solution. With its carefully rationalised adaptability and optimal ratio between volume and façade surface area, the building not only met but exceeded the client’s expectations. The compact volume, which brought together the previously scattered rental locations of the DARS administration in Ljubljana and Celje, ensures a high level of sustainable efficiency and energy rationality.

Structural design

The load-bearing structure is defined by a steel construction set back 60 centimetres from the building envelope. The external structure is connected to four concrete cores in the centre of the building by reinforced concrete slabs. The steel frame also acts as a passive sunshade – the depth of the columns is adjusted to the angle of the sun’s rays, while the dense 2.5-metre-wide grid reduces the amount of direct sunlight entering the interior and provides additional vertical stability.

The system effectively regulates heat gains throughout the year: in summer it prevents overheating, while in winter the low sun allows for passive solar gains. The ratio between the required shading, potential heat gains and the depth of the façade grid was verified separately for each side of the building using parametric thermodynamic analysis and computational fluid dynamics.

Spatial organisation

All five floors follow a uniform logic: cellular office compartments are arranged along the outer perimeter, while common areas such as meeting rooms, chat rooms and open-plan work areas are located between the four structural and communication cores that define the corners of the centrally located multi-storey atrium.

The design, without a supporting vertical structure along the perimeter and with independently arranged technological infrastructure, allows for a high degree of flexibility in the organisation of the interior. The floor plan can be transformed from a classic cellular arrangement to an open-plan office design without major interventions. This approach allows for an effective response to changing work processes, economic conditions and organisational needs.

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