Sadar+Vuga's Air Traffic Control Center ATCC in Slovenia continues to gain recognition

Things have been looking up for Sadar+Vuga's Air Traffic Control Center (ATCC) at Airport Ljubljana in Slovenia.

Since the ATCC officially opened in May 2013, it has picked up some awards throughout the year including: the Iconic Award 2013 from the German Design Coucil and the Golden Pencil 2013, which acknowledges excellent realization in the architecture field. Most recently, the ATCC was nominated for the Piranesi Award 2013.

"New Air Traffic Control Center at the Ljubljana airport, comprising air control center with 24/7 amenities and office premises, is a highly demanding and complex object due to the nature of the institution it hosts. It is designed to enable safety and high operational activity as well as consistent comfort for visitors and staff 24 hours a day all year around."

"The building is located in the middle of the plot, at the north there is a parking platform and at the south high vegetation of the garden. Within, the object is organized by five levels of security zones with access control at each passage. The further one moves from the rim that holds administrative and rest areas towards the centre of the object, the greater the security level of the areas."

"The Center appears as a monolithic shell, opening towards outside only when necessary. The compact design serves to enhance the operational efficiency of the object, paths are short and manageable. The clear division into a pentagonal head (control center) and two wings (offices and public program) provides easy orientation within. They are connected by a central multi-leveled area with an entrance lobby, restaurant, conference room and gym. "

"The windows are made of bronze reflective glass mirroring the mountains in the surrounding. The beige and bronze colour coding of the façade visually reflects the building’s character of security and protection. The roof is rising in terraces, thus continuing the play of blinds and parapets on the facade, providing daylight to the interior areas, especially to the control room in the pentagonal core of the object."

"Building is wrapped in belts of glazing and combined aluminium parapets and brise-soleils that regulate the intensity of heat and light transmission to the interior."

"The angle and the size of the brise-soleil are determined by the layout of the windows and the intensity of solar radiation related to it. The height of the parapet is determined by the interior of individual areas and the related wish for greater or lesser openings for views."

"The vertical hall is a place for meeting, informal socializing and communication."

Project details:

Type: Infrastructure 
Source: Public tender, selected project 
Client: Slovenia Control, Slovenian Air Navigation Services, Ltd. 
Site: Airport Ljubljana, Slovenia 
Site area: 7,996 m2 
Building area: 2,350 m2 
Stories: Basement + ground floor + 3 stories 
Structure: Reinforced concrete 
Cladding: Glass, aluminum panels 
Areas: ATTC 7,186 m2, garage 3,195 m2 
Program: Air traffic control center, offices, congress hall, restaurant, fitness

Architect: SADAR + VUGA (Jurij Sadar, Boštjan Vuga, Špela Štern, Tomaž Krištof, Miha Čebulj, Aleksandar Lalić) 
Landscape architecture: LANDSCAPE 
Structural engineering: ELEA iC(Angelo Žigon, Andrej Pogačnik, Marijeta Gogala) 
Mechanical engineering: CELARC 
Electrical engineering: ELSING 
Fire engineering: LOZEJ  Traffic: ELEA iC 
Site engineering: ELEA iC 
Construction: 2009–12

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