Project Ucenter 1 — Studio Beros Abdul

Beros Abdul

Project: Ucenter 1 Offices

Location: Bucharest, Romania
Client: Forte Partners
Architecture: Chapman Taylor
Landscape: Christian Beros, Esenghiul Abdul, Cristiano del Toro, Nicolae Petrencu
2021
Landscape architecture design and execution.
Photography: Vlad Patru

Located south of Bucharest city centre, the site of Ucentre sits between two of the largest parks in the city, Parcul Carol and Parcul Tineretului, both playing a major role in a scarce local green infrastructure, within a dense network of residential blocks. Bucharest ranks with one of the lowest percentages of green areas comparing between European capitals, and therefore maintaining, enhancing and creating new public green areas is key for any future development.

The site was first part of the Bucharest TBC sanatorium, then used as a war hospital by the state and as the dermatological hospital until the 2000’s. During this transition the large piece of land stood as a virtual green connection between the two parks, separated Serban Voda, a busy boulevard linking the south of the city.

Our scope was to articulate the new office development with its immediate surroundings in several ways. First at ground level by creating an open plaza which can make the transition between the street and the building, then a dense green buffer on the lateral borders and back of the building to soften the connection with neighbours’ sites, and at the upper levels, a system of stepped green areas with large open terraces, creating a visual connection and complementing the functions of the parks.

The main plaza at the lower level is one of the key places of the development. It is shaped by the various lines of movement from different directions, it is a space for informal meetings and encounters between office workers and passers-by, a transition space between the public and the private. A generous mineral surface allows movement through, and 3 green islands help in creating a microclimate that will encourage users to occupy the space in the hot summer months given the south-east orientation of the courtyard which is placed directly above the basement parking slab. The steep slope along the boulevard, and level differences across the land made more difficult connecting the street level to the entrances, and therefore sets of stairs and platforms were proposed, creating spaces for informal seating aside of the movement flows.

The elevated green islands were placed in the plaza, their position and configuration were shaped by the positions of the entrances to the buildings and the access points through the stairs and the portico. Trees were planted in the green islands creating a canopy that can provide shade and protection, but at the same time not blocking the view of the entrances from the street level to allow the height necessary for the soil volume to hold the trees, the islands were formed by a curved custom-made concrete bench encircling the whole perimeter. Due to the large dimension and the irregular shape the elements had to be custom made and produced by Escofet in Barcelona to then be shipped to Bucharest.