ZABJELO LOCAL CENTER IN PODGORICA

Zabjelo: a Local Center That Unites Instead of Dividing - Competition Project.

The Zabjelo Sustainable Local Centre in Podgorica is a place where a clinic, lecture halls, and community space share a single main lobby, a single source of natural light, and a single open square. Mixed-use buildings are typically designed through rigid segregation. A standard solution features a separate entrance, an independent corridor, and a distinct elevator—all designed to create enclosed, hermetic zones. As a result, two or more user groups are formed that never meet, even though they pass each other every day within just a few meters, remaining isolated by architecture. The concept for the local centre in Podgorica's Zabjelo district begins with a bold reversal of this conservative premise and a direct question: how can we make someone heading for a routine medical check-up and someone heading for an afternoon lecture end up in the same place, instead of parting ways down two separate, anonymous routes? The answer is a single decisive spatial gesture—the bending of the building's mass. This intentional fold in the building structure is not merely a formal treatment, but above all a powerful social tool. Thanks to it, the building's geometry naturally directs all visitors to a central, glazed connector. It is precisely at this strategic point that the paths of patients, local activists, cultural event participants, and ordinary passers-by cross. Instead of building invisible walls, the architecture invites interaction, creating a vibrant, shared heart for the building. The shared entrance space, the blurring of boundaries between individual zones, and the view of the same courtyard make a visit to the health centre and a trip to the cultural hub elements of the same, integrative urban experience.

The designed local centre, situated in the Zabjelo district of Podgorica, Montenegro, is an innovative facility combining various social, educational, and medical functions. Inside, vibrant integration spaces, modern lecture halls, and a fully equipped clinic coexist harmoniously. The building has been shaped as a spatial mass consisting of a total of four above-ground storeys and one underground storey, providing the necessary utility and technical facilities. Due to the architectural challenges posed by the local semi-arid climate, where design temperatures range from -5°C in winter to as high as +38°C in the peak of summer, the facility was conceptually planned with the utmost care for efficiency and sustainable development. Thanks to the use of eco-friendly technological solutions—most notably a high-performance 155 kWp photovoltaic system that on the highest level of the building neighbors an extensive green roof surface—the facility successfully achieves the highest energy class A, characterized by an exceptionally low average energy demand of just 45 kWh/m²/year.

Geometry that forces a meeting.

The building consists of two elongated wings set at an obtuse angle. The bend is neither a decoration nor a floor plan whim—it is a structural decision of a social nature. In the inner corner, within a top-lit glazed connector, lies the shared lobby: the only space through which all users of the facility pass. The clinic reception and the entrance to the lecture hall share the same floor, the same smell of coffee, the same light. Integration here is not a declaration in the functional program—it is a direct consequence of geometry. The opening of the wings works in two directions simultaneously: it opens a representative plaza towards the city and encloses a quiet, shaded courtyard on the opposite side—a therapeutic garden assigned to the medical section. The heart of the building was designed as a fragment of the city brought inside. Full-height glazing, walkways connecting the wings on higher levels, olive trees growing from the floor, ornamental grasses and lavender in weathering steel planters—the same palette that applies outdoors crosses the threshold here without changing the rules. The effect is measurable in functional terms: a patient waiting for an appointment does not sit in a corridor, but in the shade of a tree, by a bench, within sight of the café. Medical staff, lecturers, and residents using the club rooms move through a single space that does not exclusively belong to any of these groups. The mass was positioned to close the street frontage and create an authentic urban plaza in front of it, rather than yet another parking lot before the entrance. Vehicular traffic stops at the perimeter of the site: a kiss-and-ride drop-off loop with a turnaround serves the main entrance, a dedicated technical road leads to the ambulance entry and delivery zone, and user parking has been placed underground and supplemented only with necessary surface spaces—including spots for people with disabilities right next to the clinic entrance. The public transport stop was integrated into the approach composition rather than tacked onto the curb. The axis of the plaza consists of shallow water mirrors planted with reed vegetation. In a climate where summer temperatures reach +38 °C, water is not a decorative gesture—it lowers the perceived temperature, humidifies the air, and organizes the floor composition, leading the pedestrian straight to the entrance.

Two faces of the facade.

The building’s architecture is based on a conscious, precisely orchestrated interplay of two distinct characters that directly responds to its dual nature of use. On the one hand, the facility presents its protective facade, defined by the use of noble architectural concrete. These compact, nearly monolithic walls in a light, warm shade are pierced by irregularly spaced, narrow window openings. This treatment not only guarantees a sense of intimacy and necessary shelter for the consulting rooms hidden behind them, but also effectively limits the risk of interior overheating in the harsh climate. Furthermore, the concrete plane serves as an excellent, muted backdrop for the surrounding greenery, while the irregular rhythm of the windows skillfully strips the facade of institutional rigidity. Thanks to this phenomenon, the mass escapes conventional schemes—resembling neither an oppressive office building nor a cold, sterile hospital, and offering visual tranquility and a sense of security instead. At the opposite pole of this architectural narrative lies the fully open side, which actively engages in a dialogue with its surroundings. This part of the facade is entirely glazed and subtly shielded by horizontal sunshades made of anodized aluminium. Their layout is not accidental; it features a variable spacing where the louvers grow denser where uncompromising protection from the harsh southern sun is required. In turn, above the representative common spaces, the rhythm of the louvers thaws out, widely welcoming natural light and picturesquely framing breathtaking views of the majestic mountains surrounding Podgorica. During the day, this advanced structure creates an extremely light and shimmering facade that vividly reacts to changing weather conditions. With the arrival of night, the building undergoes another transformation, intriguingly glowing from within with a warm radiance filtering through the geometric rhythm of the aluminium louvers. This contrasting dialogue of materials is further highlighted by the distinct recession of the ground floor line. Its complete glazing makes the heavy, sculptural mass of the upper storeys appear to float immaterially just above the level of the plaza. This treatment also ensures that the vibrant interior of the main lobby remains fully legible from a pedestrian's eye level, intuitively inviting people inside. The boundary between the exterior and interior blurs, smoothly transitioning into a carefully considered arrangement of the common areas. Their space is maintained in an exceptionally cohesive, calming material combination, where the natural coolness of raw concrete meets light wood that warms up the interior, accompanied by the soft texture of plaster in natural, sandy shades. 

Program: Two worlds, one heart.

The thoughtful spatial layout and the division of the building's mass into independent wings allow for the complete separation of its two distinct modes of operation—the dynamic public mode and the quiet, medical mode—while maintaining a shared, integrating lobby. The underground level forms the foundation and technological backbone of the facility, housing a spacious parking garage, storage rooms, technical and staff social spaces, a heat substation, and—crucial to the investment's sustainable character—a battery room that stores energy generated by the photovoltaic system. The ground floor serves as a true hub of social life, centered around the shared lobby within the glazed connector, which features a reception area, an information desk, a café, and a flexible exhibition space. From here, users can proceed to the western wing, which houses an impressive lecture hall seating approximately 250 people. Designed for maximum versatility, this space can be divided into two smaller rooms, and thanks to its innovative ability to open up toward the outdoor plaza, it can successfully function as a stage for open-air cultural events. Meanwhile, the eastern wing of the ground floor is dedicated to a quiet, isolated clinic zone, comprising the registration desk, a blood collection point, diagnostics, and treatment rooms. This area also includes an out-of-hours and holiday healthcare unit equipped with a completely independent entrance. Moving smoothly to the first floor, we find an extensive educational facility consisting of two large lecture halls, four intimate seminar rooms, and fully equipped workshop and computer studios. Simultaneously, the medical wing houses primary care physician offices, whose waiting areas are carefully illuminated by soothing natural light flowing from the inner courtyard. The second floor is a space dedicated to advanced medical care. Located here are specialist clinics, a dedicated pediatric zone with a separate waiting room and a safe play area for children, as well as a comprehensive rehabilitation unit whose bright exercise hall opens directly onto an outdoor terrace. The crowning element of the entire layout is the third floor, which serves strictly social and administrative functions. It features inspiring spaces for non-governmental organizations, club rooms, a coworking zone, and representative management offices for both parts of the facility. From this level, users also have access to an expansive, panoramic roof terrace. To ensure that this complex functional structure operates seamlessly and without interference, the building's vertical circulation has been intelligently duplicated. Representative stairs and spacious elevators in the shared lobby handle the main public traffic, while an independent core is concealed within the medical wing, specifically tailored for the discreet transport of bedridden patients and staff movement. Thanks to this solution, loud evening events in the lecture hall or meetings in the club rooms in no way disturb the operation of the medical offices, and the clinic can function smoothly during hours entirely independent of the public section's schedule.

Fifth elevation and energy balance.

The fifth elevation of the building, which is its expansive roof, has been fully developed and designed as an active element of the facility's ecosystem. Impressive fields of photovoltaic panels generating 155 kWp directly adjoin the surface of the extensive green roof. This combination is not the result of a spatial compromise, but rather a deliberate, precisely thought-out synergy of technology and nature. The vegetation naturally cools the photovoltaic panels, which genuinely increases their efficiency and stabilizes power generation on hot days. At the same time, the green roof acts as a powerful sponge—retentioning valuable rainwater and actively reducing the urban heat island effect. Any excess rainwater is not wasted, but instead flows into an underground tank, from where it supplies the irrigation system for the surrounding area during periods of drought. This closed-loop cycle is just one element of the advanced energy system. It consists of the photovoltaic installation cooperating with energy storage systems, high-efficiency heat pumps, a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery exceeding 70% efficiency, and innovative chilled ceilings applied in the office section. Crucially, the designers adopted the principle of prioritizing passive solutions over active ones. External sunshades and deep window reveals block solar radiation and limit heat gains at their very source before there is even any need to remove them via mechanical cooling. In turn, the well-thought-out, through-flow layout of the common spaces enables natural cross-ventilation of the building during transitional periods. This entire technological and spatial organism is a direct response to the extremely demanding climate of the semi-arid zone, characterized by extreme temperatures ranging from -5°C in winter to a scorching +38°C at the peak of summer. Thanks to such a holistic approach, the facility not only easily copes with difficult conditions, but successfully achieves the highest energy class A, boasting an impressively low weighted average energy demand hovering around just 45 kWh/m²/year. 

Greenery, small architecture and light.

The carefully planned surroundings of the building reflect a rigorous approach to sustainable landscape design, where the selection of vegetation ideally corresponds to demanding Mediterranean conditions and assumes minimal water demand. Drought-resistant pines, olives, and lime trees were introduced as tall greenery, while soaring cypresses serve as expressive, vertical sculptural accents. Peripheral parking and technical zones are subtly masked by dense, shaped hedges of cherry laurel and oleander, creating natural green screens. Importantly, traditional, water-intensive lawns have been completely replaced by carpets of fragrant lavender, hardy ornamental grasses, and low ground cover plants that tolerate the local climate exceptionally well and require minimal maintenance. The small architecture harmonizing with the greenery utilizes a single, extremely consistent and noble material palette based on durable weathering steel, warm hardwood, and modern anodized aluminum. These materials were intentionally chosen to ideally correspond with the raw nature of the architectural concrete. All elements of the spatial furnishings—from comfortable benches with wooden seats mounted on steel bases, through planters and waste sorting bins, to bicycle racks, drinking fountains, and legible information totems—form a cohesive, proprietary system rather than a random collection of catalogue accessories. The whole is complemented by a thoughtful illumination system that dispenses with traditional, intrusive site lighting in favor of two subtle layers. Low bollards with a height of just 0.8 meters and linear LED fixtures precisely recessed into the edges of the pavement along pedestrian paths mark a safe route. Traditional high mast lighting has been strictly limited exclusively to the roadway zone. Thanks to this treatment, at night the light does not blind pedestrians—instead, the pavement itself and the gently illuminated facade of the building gleam softly, creating a safe, intimate, and human-friendly atmosphere.

Accessibility without compromise.

The entire complex has been designed in accordance with the rigorous principles of Universal Design. The space of the Zabjelo Local Centre proves that true accessibility is not about attaching special ramps or installing lifts to a finished building, but about creating an environment that is completely free of barriers from the earliest conceptual stage. The building and the plaza surrounding it treat every user with equal respect, regardless of age, level of physical ability, or perceptual needs. To ensure complete independence, safety, and comfort for all visitors, a multi-layered, seamlessly operating system of amenities has been implemented. The entire site—starting from the bus stops and the kiss-and-ride zone, all the way to the farthest corners of the roof—is devoid of thresholds and unjustified level changes. Transitioning from the outdoor plaza into the main lobby is completely smooth, granting full freedom of movement to wheelchair users, seniors with walkers, and parents with baby strollers. With blind and partially sighted individuals in mind, the flooring has been equipped with an integrated system of tactile paving featuring truncated domes and directional guiding lines. These guide visitors flawlessly from the site entrances to key locations such as the reception desk, elevators, and stairwells. Furthermore, elevator panels and directional signage feature raised Braille lettering, while high-contrast warning strips have been applied to large-format glazing and stair edges. These solutions are complemented by an intuitive visual orientation system based on clear pictograms and logical color coding. This helps individuals with cognitive disorders, those on the autism spectrum, as well as visitors who do not speak the local language, to easily find their way. The designers also prioritized the acoustic comfort of the hard of hearing. Modern induction loops have been installed at key points of interaction—at reception desks, medical registration points, and within the multi-purpose lecture hall. This solution effectively eliminates background noise, transmitting crystal-clear sound from microphones directly to the users' hearing aids. Equally important to the inclusive character of the building are the carefully designed sanitary spaces. Fully accessible restrooms guaranteeing the necessary maneuvering space have been planned on every public floor. In parallel, discreet parents-with-children rooms have been created, equipped with changing tables and comfortable nursing spaces. The Zabjelo Local Centre is a space that genuinely invites and includes. Accessibility here is not treated as a burdensome legal obligation to be checked off, but rather as the foundation of modern, empathetic architecture designed to proudly serve the entire local community.