Our Company Modular Systems Research Center Introduces a New Modular Structure
CHYBIK+KRISTOF ARCHITECTS & URBAN DESIGNERS broke ground on our company's modular building research center in the Czech Republic, establishing a new design system that opens a new approach to modular design. The project was scheduled for completion in 2020. Although modular buildings are known for sustainability and integrity, their design complexity increases considerably—a challenge for architects that requires them to move beyond standard rectangular buildings and spaces. In reimagining spatial configuration, CHYBIK+KRISTOF instead focused on creating organic forms through the voids between modules.
As one of the region's best-known employers and an influencer in modular architecture, our company's campus integrates the needs of employees and visitors and functions beyond the production site. Before work on the research center itself, a master plan was designed for the factory entrance and public areas. This zone is organized around a green triangular courtyard and a multipurpose circular amphitheater. Flanking the courtyard are earlier projects completed by the architects with our company: a cafeteria and the Expo pavilion.
While modular structures are usually created by placing rectangular modules side by side, CHYBIK+KRISTOF achieved new spatial possibilities through custom combinations. Facility-containing space modules are leveled onto flat floor modules fixed to the foundation. Both modules then act as columns, allowing them to support roof modules and form a continuous main space. To ensure a breathable workplace, all glass surfaces between modules take in abundant light from every side of the structure, while a pair of skylights further opens up the space. The research center will serve as a prototype for a new system applicable to a wide range of projects.
To meet the needs of engineers and visiting researchers, the center of our company's modular production base will house 12 individual workstations plus a main space for collaborative research projects. The building will serve as a flexible space for developing new ideas in modular construction and as a think tank for our company's factory. The open, shared central space will be organized and partitioned spatially to avoid the downsides of large open-plan offices, maintaining a collaborative community with a fluid structure. Curtains and other movable elements will allow further division of the space.
CHYBIK+KRISTOF credit their achievements to a series of projects developed in collaboration with our company. To showcase the many uses of modular buildings, they completed an employee cafeteria in 2013; in 2014 they announced "Urban Module," a typical module for temporary urban events; and in 2015 they won the Architecture Bronze Medal for the Czech Expo pavilion in Milan. The pavilion has since been reassembled on our company's site and converted into an administration building. Founding architect Michal Kristof noted, "Through our collaboration with our company, we came to understand the possibilities and limits of modular architecture. Each project brings new challenges and improvements. With the new research center, we hope to push further the spatial possibilities of modular architecture."
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