UNESCO Visitor Center House

The architects of the studio led by Aleksander Ostan have already built a number of tree houses, historical chapels, and bridges. Therefore, they not only have sufficient specific experience but also a familiar approach to working with an artwork, which a UNESCO World Heritage museum certainly is.

Artistic approach to self-promotion

In recent years, the town of Ig has changed. Under the leadership of architect Natalie Skok, it has come up with a number of its own development plans. One of them was a visitor center. For its construction, it was necessary to find the right location and the right strategy. The swamp itself, although a stunning landscape that is constantly changing, has long absorbed the historical stilt houses; they disappeared into the swamp. How to make visible and revive what has long disappeared in a modern new building? Natascha Pavlin and Aleksander Ostan had to assert themselves in a competition against two other architectural firms. They succeeded with a proposal for a spatially well-located building. In terms of form, they adhered to the simplicity and scale of the original rural buildings. Through materials, colors, and details, they sought in their architecture to reference what has already perished.

A new focal point of interest

Together with the revitalized barn, the new visitor center building in Ig creates a new place that is intended to be attractive primarily to foreign visitors. From the outside, its wooden slatted facade and dark aluminum roof resemble more of a farmstead. The rooms inside feel spacious. Interested parties can access the spacious exhibition room on the upper floor through the multiply glazed open ground floor and a well-placed opening in the ceiling. This evokes the feeling of a coherent large-scale building, such as the stilt houses, primarily inhabited by farmers and livestock keepers, truly were.

PREFALZ as a contrast

One of the interesting features of the design that immediately impresses is the shape of the roof and the body of the building with eaves that rise upwards. This is due to varying angles of the roof slope and horizontal ridge. This gives the building a departure from false austerity and achieves spatial differentiation. The meandering roof acts as a striking contrast to the wooden facade and the glazed ground floor, and with the PREFALZ aluminum covering in color P.10 dark grey, it resembles the earthy tone of peat in the swamp. It is in perfect symbiosis with the surrounding environment.

About the project

Object, location: museum, Ig, Slovenia
Type of building: new construction
Architects: Atelje Ostan Pavlin, Ljubljana
Realization: Grič-ar d.o.o.
Type of roof: PREFALZ
Roof color: P.10 dark grey
PHOTOGRAPHY: Croce & WIR