Social Insurance Agency

The new building of the Social Insurance Agency in Rimavská Sobota is located in the territory of the central urban zone. The area of the plot is defined by the streets Mikszátha and Škultétyho. The construction is realized on a plot that is in contact with the existing residential and administrative buildings of diverse architecture, in a non-homogeneous and urbanistically unfinished environment.
  The mentioned fact influenced the architectural design and solution of the building. The building is designed in a simple architectural and mass expression so that no further object with dominant architecture is placed in the area. The design aims to harmonize these various types of development as much as possible.
  The height of the new construction and its shaping are determined by the proximity of the south-facing residential buildings and the resulting demands to adhere to the relevant daylight standards and the setback of the proposed building.
  The emergence of the building can be characterized by the phrase "long-distance running". The investor announced a commercial competition for the project documentation of the building in 2003, and the selection of the designer was completed in 2004. After a subsequent one-year break caused by the exchange of the original plot, the actual project preparation began. The project, including the interior design, was delivered to the investor at the end of 2005. The actual realization of the building took place only after a several-year delay, at the end of 2008. The construction was completed in 2010, the interiors in 2011, from which point the building has been in use by the investor.
  The design of the building effectively utilizes the plot for construction. The insurance company's premises are accessible to clients from Mikszátha street, where the main entrance to the building and vehicle access is located. Adjacent to it, in front of the building, is the normative required number of parking spaces for clients and the disabled. A barrier-free access to the building is a given. A separate controlled operational entrance from Škultétyho street allows for employee entry and deliveries to the building.
  The architectural solution of the building stems from the intention to design the object in a contemporary architectural appearance that documents the appropriate seriousness and modesty necessary for a government building, while considering the appropriate financial demands of the construction and the materials used. The architecture of the object reflects its functional content. The façades are designed in a combination of glazed strips of aluminum windows and solid smooth walls, contrasting with the structured roofing material and profiled cladding panels. Relatively large glazed areas emphasize the spaces of the client center and the employees' dining room. The color scheme of the building is chosen to be decidedly modest - monochromatic - in gray tones, considering the heterogeneous architecture of neighboring buildings.
  From a spatial perspective, emphasis is placed on clarity, safety, consistent separation of functional zones, and the creation of appropriate conditions for both clients and employees.
Contact with the client is primarily realized on the ground floor. Here, the client center, mailroom, cash desk, information – security, as well as the medical assessment department are located. These spaces are complemented by a staff cafeteria with a buffet that also serves the public clients. The ground floor also houses part of the building's technical facilities, namely garages for service vehicles, a storage for car operation, a room, and hygiene facilities for drivers.
  The basement houses the remaining technical equipment of the building, mainly the air conditioning machine room, electrical distribution room, central archive equipped with mobile shelving units, CO storage, MTZ storage, office supply storage, etc. The gas boiler room is located on the highest - 5th floor of the building.
  The remaining floors are purely administrative, each floor has its own small archive. On the 5th above-ground floor is located the branch director's department with the director's office, secretary's office, director's meeting room, and a large conference room for 30 people.
  The structural system consists of monolithic reinforced concrete columns combined with reinforcing reinforced concrete walls, and the ceilings are made as reinforced concrete ceiling slabs without beams, with hidden steel heads, supported on load-bearing vertical structures. The exterior walls of the above-ground floors are constructed from ceramic blocks on thermal insulation mortar. The main part of the building is covered with a shed roof with a slope of 6°, which in the section along the southeastern façade changes to a 30° slope. The shed is created by a system of wooden purlins, trusses, posts, and rafters, and in the area above the conference room, with wooden trussed rafters. The roofing is designed from titanium zinc sheet. Above the ground floor sections of the building and above part of the 5th floor are flat roofs designed with internal drainage of rainwater via roof inlets with PVC membrane roofing.
  The building's fencing is designed in the form of "gabions" with climbing greenery, part consists of concrete walls.
  The interior corresponds with the simplicity of the building. Emphasis is placed on ensuring appropriate working and archival spaces for employees, on safe and undisturbed communication with clients. Office furniture is designed in a light wood shade, combined with horizontal grating of anodized aluminum and matte glass. The building is equipped with the necessary low-voltage systems, which ensure structured cabling as a basic construction element for data and telephone networks, security systems, surveillance systems, and fire alarm systems.

Authors of the photographs: B. Hovorka / J. Piliar