Žilina Region

The Žilina Region is among those into which modern architecture penetrated exceptionally early and at a high level of quality. It was brought to Žilina as early as the late 1920s by Michal Maximilián Scheer — his Finance Palace (1931) is a work unique in an all-Slovak dimension, and the Svojdomov colony of family houses (1928–1932) ranks among the Slovak equivalents of the famous interwar model colonies. From the same period comes the Považie Agrarian and Industrial Bank (1930, Friedrich Weinwurm, Ignác Vécsei), proof that high-quality financial architecture has a tradition in Žilina reaching back to functionalism. Another exceptional work is the Žilina Neolog Synagogue by Peter Behrens, a co-founder of European modernism — a masterful blend of modernism and traditional sacred motifs, perhaps the most famous building by a foreign architect in Slovakia. This rich tradition is continued by the region’s contemporary architecture as well, represented in our publication by the Branch Office of the National Bank of Slovakia in Žilina and the renewal of the manor house in Gbeľany.

Žilina

Branch Office of the National Bank of Slovakia

Žilina, A. Bernoláka Street

Authors: Vladimír Fajčík, Maroš Likavčan, Róbert Toman Completed: 2003 Photo: [to be added]

In the first decade of building Slovak statehood, besides the headquarters of the National Bank of Slovakia in Bratislava (2001), three of its branch offices were also realised — in 2003 in Žilina and in Nové Zámky (Peter Jančo et al.) and a year later in Lučenec (Ľubomír Závodný, Peter Vodrážka). Their distribution was governed by distance from the centre, so that the “stores of money” that every bank essentially is would be evenly distributed. A bank is expected to radiate certainty, solidity and tradition. How to translate these attributes into architectural form is the architects’ task. In the case of the Žilina branch, the road to the final form was a long one. Seven years passed between the 1996/1997 competition and the realisation, during which the concept underwent several transformations. The branch building is divided into three cubes, in which the individual functional zones unfold. The closedness of the form corresponds to the need for banking security, but also to the authors’ expression of a view on how to shape a house of money while giving it an appropriate identity. In this case the authors bet on utility and simplicity of form. The main façade is accented by dark Corten cladding, which contrasts with the white render of the other parts. A projecting cornice covers the approach path, carries the flag display and terminates above the entrance to the building. The branch reflects the period requirements of a banking institution, supporting functionality, matter-of-factness and solidity.

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Gbeľany

Extension and Renewal of the Gbeľany Manor House

Gbeľany, Hlavná 140

Author: Viktor Šabík Collaboration: Marián Haberland, Katarína Fialová (interiors) Completed: 2014 – 2015 Photo: Tomáš Manina

The renewal and rescue of the Baroque manor house of 1756 in Gbeľany, a national cultural monument, was the achievement of a private investor and current owner, a native of Gbeľany, who bought the manor in 2011. The original Baroque layout of the manor is arranged around a central longitudinal axis, with a characteristic courtyard that creates a U-shaped plan. A corridor with wide arcades over two storeys is likewise oriented toward the courtyard. The Baroque, noble entrance on the central axis of the main façade is accented by a delicate apse, a Baroque gate and a tympanum, and remains the main hotel entrance point today. The manor is surrounded by rich parkland, divided into a historical — Baroque — part and a contemporary one with new landscaping. The renewal restored the manor’s original lustre and nobility. New sections were added to the side wings, reflecting in a U-shape the preserved plan footprint of the original building of 1864. The façade with a sundial oriented toward the courtyard is a replica of the original one and suitably completes the revived Baroque concept of the enclosed courtyard with its pleasant dimensions. The clock motif is found on the façades of both the historical and the new, northern part. The two-storey new building with a flat roof is an openly declared new form in a timber façade envelope, which pleasantly contrasts with the historical part. Distinguishing the new building was a conceptual intention and a fitting authorial contribution by the architect Viktor Šabík. He functionally adapted the manor to the requirements of a four-star hotel with wellness, fitness, bowling, a restaurant, a conference hall and a bar. Through the renewal, the historical mansard roof of the original manor gained two new floors with hotel accommodation and a modern interior.

The history of the manor in Gbeľany mirrors a development that marked many other Slovak secular buildings, when the property of noble and gentry families was nationalised in the 1950s. Many of them are still in decay today, which is why every renewal is a significant contribution to preserving the cultural heritage of Slovakia.

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