Savamala Printworks
A 1930s print shop near the Sava turned into offices for 80 people. The brick shell, the steel trusses and the old crane rail all stayed.
Savamala, Belgrade
2022
960 m²
Completed
Halo Labs
Unsplash
The building had been empty since 2009 and the roof leaked in four places. Most of the brief came down to one sentence from the client: keep it looking like a printworks.
Structure
The original riveted trusses were sound, so we cleaned and repainted them in their original grey. A new mezzanine hangs from the trusses on steel rods, which left the ground floor free of columns.
Sound
Brick and steel echo badly. We added wood-wool panels between the trusses and a felt-lined bookcase wall along the main hall. Reverberation time dropped from 2.8 to 0.7 seconds, which you can hear the moment you walk in.