This project involves the renovation of three Baroque block houses with a shared internal court in the old city center next to the City Hall, opposite the Robba Fountain and close to Plecnik's three bridges. All three of these buildings are owned by a publishing company. The ground floor was used as a bookshop and the spaces above on the first floor were used for offices and last adapted in the early eighties. The internal court was rebuilt as a closed, semi glazed service space used for the building’s main air conditioning devices.
The brief required to connect the houses into one single unit with the 12 apartments around the small internal court. Baroque elevations facing the street had to be mainly reconstructed to their original state. The internal court could be adapted and revitalized, but also under State Heritage supervision. The concept reinstates the existing court as a new central communicating space between levels and apartments, bringing natural light and natural ventilation and cooling into the apartment spaces that overlook the court. Since the court is very narrow and enclosed from all sides, the main concern was to provide as much light as possible to become a form of internal garden. The result is a fully glazed and reflective envelope covering historic elements on the courtyard elevations.
Historical stone arches, pillars and slabs were discovered during the construction, and these elements become part of the interior. They form visible reflections on the glazed envelope. With the transparency of the apartment spaces and the reflected elements, the court benefits from additional light and visual elements from external features such as the tower of the Ljubljana Dome and the castle as they are reflected down into the courtyard.
