ZIKZAK Architects have completed a landmark office project in Limassol

The new building with an area of more than 4400 square meters will be built with an accent facade by ZIKZAK Architects, on which the team worked for more than 3 months. The building will house the office of an international IT company. The project was large-scale and complex, but the tasks with an asterisk only drive the architects and designers of ZIKZAK Architects. 

The existing four-story building, designed in the shape of the letter “L” and the adjacent two-story cylindrical building will occupy a large area of the courtyard and will be visible from the street. The team was tasked with creating an expressive architectural composition from these buildings that intrigues and attracts the attention of passers-by. As a result of a series of brainstorms, ZIKZAK Architects came up with a unique creative solution – to design a shell of large-format wooden slats that envelops a two-story cylinder and becomes the accent of the composition. According to the team, one of the inspiration factors for such a futuristic facade design was the intricate shiny pavilion of Pakistan from Expo 2022.

The cylindrical and L-shaped buildings are interconnected at the ground level.  The cylinder is enveloped by lamellas that form an intricate shape and change it depending on the angle of contemplation. Wooden slats completely surround the building at different angles, their bends create passages similar to tunnels or caves. The observer, looking at the building from the side of the road, sees a striped cylinder of regular shape, but on the reverse side, he sees a different, curved form of the building. In addition to a creative and futuristic visual solution, the lamellas perform a sun protection function. Shade protection is also provided by pergolas built into the cylinder.

In the evening, the accent cylindrical structure creates an even more spectacular impression, as it has programmed LED matrices that cover the long ends of the rails. The animation displayed on each of the rails is assembled into a coherent image. At dusk, a bright media installation is visible from afar, broadcasting across the entire area of the cylinder shell.

The building provides a large number of panoramic windows. Given the hot climate of Cyprus, a solution was needed to protect it from the scorching sun. To prevent the room from heating up and to make it comfortable to stay and work in it, automatic Japanese curtains were introduced for each of the windows. They move around the perimeter according to the established scenario. While roller shutters are mostly used in offices, Japanese blinds have become one of the non-standard solutions of designers that complement the aesthetics of the building facade.

The project provides a functional and concise phyto design. Thoughtful rhythms of plant compositions are planted on the balcony and terrace of the building for decoration and freshness. Lush greenery, placed in the fence, which is adjacent to the road, separates the territory aesthetically and naturally and is a barrier between the yard and street dust.

The architecture of the office in Limassol is another vivid example of a creative bold solution to a difficult task of the customer from ZIKZAK Architects.