Bureau Cube Partners places an emphasis on the role of collaboration and client-driven visions in shaping the future of public architecture
Regardless of its impressive figures in terms of square metres designed, Bureau Cube Partners is particularly proud of its significant contribution to the design of public buildings. Speaking in this interview, Nadica Davidović, Chief Architect and Head of the Architectural Design Department at Bureau Cube Partners, shares her insights into the team’s achievements and challenges in this vital sector.
“In addition to expertise and the dedication of each member of our team, successful project implementation also demands that we complement each other and believe in the client’s vision that leads us to a common goal and success,” emphasises Davidović.
Expressing Bureau Cube Partners in numbers, you have over 50 architects and more than 250 designed buildings, encompassing over 1 million designed square metres. Do you consider these achievements worth celebrating?
— We hope this marks the first of many anniversaries, as we celebrate 15 years with our team, collaborators, clients and friends. Despite these impressive figures, we are particularly proud of our contributions to public buildings. Through dedicated work, we’ve improved daily life significantly at the Dr Vukan Čupić Institute for Mother and Child Healthcare of Serbia and have led projects for the reconstruction and extension of the SANU Palace, the campus of the Faculty of Fine Arts and the Institute for the Education of Children and Youth in Belgrade, as well as numerous gerontological centres across the country. In social protection, we’ve not only introduced a modern design approach, but also published engineering guidelines for designing social work centres and public prosecutors’ offices that represent significant advancements in this sector.
How crucial are team synergy and aligning with the client’s vision to successful project execution from conception to completion?
— We take immense pride in our team, which has worked diligently for 15 years, creating and designing spatial structures and environments where the programme, technology, sustainability and daily life converge intelligently. Guided by our clients’ visions, this synergy leads us to a shared goal and success, ultimately materialising through collaboration on numerous projects. For the Tempo Tower residential-commercial complex, we crafted an architectural solution that unquestionably meets the criteria for future attractiveness. Here is more about the project:
The Tempo Tower complex is primarily residential and consists of three previously fragmented mono volumes integrated into a systemically complex architectural form. Its highest point reaches 120 metres, meeting the criteria for attractiveness, aesthetic distinction and functional richness. On the lower floors, a multifunctional base has been designed as an urban oasis. Diverse public and commercial facilities open up towards the surroundings, fostering a sense of community and urban interaction. Flexible multifunctional spaces for performances and events, and educational and cultural content, further enrich the base’s offer, ensuring its functional prominence as a hub of social life.
We take immense pride in our team, which has worked diligently for 15 years, creating and designing spatial structures and environments where the programme, technology, sustainability and daily life converge intelligently
Rising above the base, the residential sections of the complex, extending from the 3rd to the 32nd floor, consist of 443 housing units of various types and layouts, offering a diverse range of living experiences tailored to the needs and preferences of contemporary urban residents. Additional functional amenities are housed at the top of the tower, on the 33rd and 34th floors, and include a spa centre with a pool and a panoramic restaurant. These facilities provide spectacular views of the city and its surroundings, as well as high-quality recreational and relaxation amenities. These features undoubtedly add extra value and attractiveness to the Tempo Tower complex, positioning it as a potential urban landmark and strategic site for analysing and developing the city’s urban matrix.
Do you embrace unique, bold and recognisable original solutions in your designs, even under the scrutiny of the professional public and end-users?
— For our architectural studio, each new project presents a challenge in which the pursuit of uniqueness in design and creation, in most cases, has positive reactions from the milieu, which additionally encourages and satisfies each of us. Still, we can’t expect there to be no public criticism or propositions regarding our work. Rather, we deal with that constructively, using it as an opportunity to develop further and enhance our ideas and approaches. Through such dynamics, our architectural studio continues to grow and evolve, creating projects that are not only aesthetically and functionally superior, but also socially relevant and adapted to community needs.