Multifunctional Complex CENTRUM with Hotel in Vilnius City

About object:

This is one of the first multifunctional complexes in Lithuania after restoration of Independence combining many different functions: the complex includes a conference center, offices, shops, saloons, cafés, hotels, etc.
The five-storey complex occupies the biggest part of the quarter. Its designing and construction processes were implemented in two phases: firstly, the multifunctional part at the intersections of streets was accomplished (including back areas of the quarter covered from the street), and afterwards – the hotel. The main focus in the composition of volumes is the building of the first construction stage with a curved glass bay window and a rotunda protruding above the roof. The new extension to the building – the hotel – is connected with the first block by a transparent gallery situated on the second floor.
The most important however in this complex was not the form, but the content: the architects for the first time tried to create a glass-roofed-coated public space – an atrium, and used a “Scandinavian discovery”- they did not install any heating device. At that time, just the first repercussions of sustainable, energy-efficient architecture reached Lithuania, but the experiment proved to be successful – there was enough heat even in rigorous winter. The created area through three floors not only became an excellent space for communication, but also “let in” natural light into the depths of the building, so it enabled it seem larger than normally.

A. Štelbienė