Halcom Offices

New Offices in the Old Printing House

The offices of the IT company Halcom occupy a listed former printing house, originally designed by Slovenian architect Savin Sever for the publisher Mladinska knjiga. The building - a significant example of Slovenian post-war industrial architecture - follows a tripartite layout, and Halcom's premises fill one of its three naves. The Slovenian Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage closely monitored the entire project.

The renovation is grounded in a respectful relationship to the spatial qualities of the existing architecture. The new intervention preserves its key elements: the large open volume of the former printing hall, the rhythm of the reinforced-concrete structure, and the system of roof skylights that evenly light the space with daylight.

Within the open nave, three new galleries, or "islands," have been inserted, set back from the existing structure. The new elements never touch the historic walls, keeping the building's original spatial concept clearly legible. Between and within the islands, a variety of settings supports different ways of working and different degrees of privacy; their layout follows the company's needs, interweaving open work areas, spaces for collaboration and enclosed offices.

The islands are soft and organic in form, and almost fully transparent at ground level, setting up a deliberate contrast with the robust concrete structure around them. Along their entire perimeter, planters filled with lush greenery soften the industrial character of the space and contribute to a healthy working environment. At ground level, the islands can be fully enclosed with translucent curtains, allowing a flexible degree of privacy for the enclosed spaces beneath each gallery.

Particular attention was given to the acoustics of the single, largely open-plan hall. Three elements work together: fiber-cement panels lining all wall and ceiling surfaces except the concrete structure itself, textile curtains on the outer face of the glazed walls beneath the galleries, and textile flooring on the gallery floors. Sizing and routing the mechanical installations — for which the original structure made no provision — was a further challenge of the renovation.

Transitions between the galleries align with the axis of new, large window openings in the façade, flooding the shared areas with daylight, while the original roof skylights continue to bring natural light deep into the centre of the space. The bright, evenly lit interior preserves one of the essential qualities of Sever's original architecture. The transformation rests on this respectful dialogue with heritage: the reinforced-concrete structure, spatial openness and natural light of the original building remain intact, while new architectural interventions extend its identity into the present.