G+A Architects have shared with us their project proposal for the Museum of Nature Competition. Through the design phase the bureau has seriously taken into consideration the impact of the new building into the surrounding area covered in soft pines, neighboring houses, sport fields and the so called “Drenica river”. On the North and East side, the plot views the city while on the West side the view turns green, covered on pine trees.

The integration of the building is carried by soft lines adapted to geographical and organic lines which slope through the drawings up to 10 m’. This enabled the designers to mostly take the museum in the underground, thus creating an eco-friendly rooftop which empowers the museum to be fully adapted to the environment by protecting the originality of the surrounding.

The designers anticipated the need of natural light and open spaces covering these parts with indoor-outdoor gardens and also with a geodetic dome. The indoor gardens and the ones in front of the building are projected to be inhabited with brittle and rare vegetation species, presenting the green beauty that grows in Kosovo’s lands. The dome functions not only as a a way for natural light to brighten the indoor spaces but also as a vital part for energy efficiency. Also at winters the glass dome will save the energy accumulated by the sun and use it to support the heating system reducing the heating energy consumption. On the other side, in hotter days of late spring and summer, the glass façade ventilates the air with its mobile windows on the upper part.

The structural part is mainly foreseen to be built by reinforced concrete because of the serious underground earth pressure.