MARNEULI, GEORGIA, 2011-2012

The building of a new Public Service Hall in Marneuli, a town 30 kilometres south of the capital Tbilisi, was part of a broader government programme for the construction of more than 15 public offices, distributed countrywide and used for the issue of identity cards and other administrative services to citizens. The building, which also houses a branch of the TBC Bank, faces a wide urban junction next to a police station, a cultural centre and a supermarket, all recently built. The square-planned building has a bearing frame of reinforced concrete columns and unfaced box floor slabs. The slightly raised ground floor guarantees natural ventilation and lighting for the basement parking. The interior is laid out as a central atrium overlooked by the staircase faced in natural oak. Arranged around this atrium, on the mezzanine are the public teller counters and, on the upper level, the offices of the Attorney and his or her staff, the back office and meeting rooms - all located in the outer part of the building in order to benefit from the natural light and views of the surrounding landscape. The volume is infilled with a curtain wall of glazed panels 1.4 metres wide and screened by a tensile structure in silvered PTFE fabric with its distinctive undulating movement.

aMDL Architetto Michele De Lucchi Srl - Michele De Lucchi

Nicholas Bewick (project leader), Marcello Biffi, Vittorio Romano, Federico Tria

Francesco Faccin (mock-up)

Anagi (building contractor); Konex (structural framework); Arch Trade, Tensaform, ProLight, Martini, Marazzi, Schuco (furniture)

Ministry of Justice of Georgia

2.208 m2

2011-2012 design; 2012 completion

Gia Chkhatarashvili

Year 2012

Work started in 2011

Work finished in 2012

Client Ministry of Justice of Georgia

Contractor Anagi

Status Completed works

Type Government and institutional buildings / Town Halls / multi-purpose civic centres / Office Buildings / Banks