Atrium Architekti has completed the renovation of Kosmalt, a thirteen-story housing block in Košice originally built in the 1960s as the largest workers’ dormitory for the VSŽ steelworks. Architects Ladislav Greč and Róbert Kandrík designed the original structure, which takes its name from a type of enameled steel produced by the local steelworks. Located in the Terasa housing estate, the building carries a strong urban presence through its silhouette and characteristic facade.
RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE
The project treats the renovation of a Panelák housing block as a complete architectural strategy. Atrium Architekti focused on preserving the building’s identity, recovering its original qualities, and adapting it to current housing needs. The studio approached the building as a structure with lasting architectural value, despite its utilitarian origins in the second half of the twentieth century.
A strict structural and spatial grid defines the building. The eastern and western facades follow a 22 by 13 grid of identical prefabricated concrete fields, giving Kosmalt its recognizable expression. Atrium Architekti kept this order and developed it as the main architectural motif of the renovation. A monochromatic grey facade now strengthens the building’s monumental scale and clean composition.
The architects also uncovered and restored original materials that later layers had hidden over time. They preserved cast terrazzo in the shared corridors and staircases, marble cladding in the vestibule, the travertine plinth on the facade, original steel beams in common areas, and the steel gallery and staircase in the entrance hall. New interventions use expanded metal, corrugated sheet metal, custom lighting, and strong color accents.
Kosmalt keeps its residential function. The layout follows the original structural logic while using its potential for contemporary living. The main challenge involved transforming repeated dormitory cells into private residential units with a higher standard. During the design phase, Atrium Architekti found that compact XS layouts of 21 square meters can serve individuals and couples. Generous glazing, loggias, and city views, especially from the upper floors, support a stronger sense of openness. The building now contains 507 residential units.
The shared areas carry a different scale from the compact apartments. Entrance spaces, corridors, and vertical circulation areas feel generous and representative. Natural light, views, and clear proportions give the corridors a social role on each of the thirteen floors. Two identical staircases, placed symmetrically, continue to divide the building into two parts, following the original separation between male and female dormitory wings.
Atrium Architekti added a new orientation system based on color and symbols. Salmon, ivory, and yellow tones work with plus and minus signs to distinguish the corridor wings and help residents and visitors read the building more intuitively.
Kosmalt did not begin as an adaptable building, yet the renovation introduces that quality into its structure. The project shows how an existing Panelák can support contemporary housing through careful transformation. Once a socialist dormitory for single workers, the building now offers individual, dignified, and current forms of living while retaining the architectural logic that shaped it from the beginning.
Studio: Atrium Architekti
Author: Michal Burák, Dušan Burák, Jana Varchola Buráková
Co-author: Tomáš Eisner
Design team: Matúš Gomolčá
Project location: Kysucká 16, Košice, Slovakia
Project year: 2021
Completion year: 2025
Built-up area: 1695 m²
Usable floor area: 15625 m²
Plot size: 3700 m²
Photographer: Matej Hakár, www.matejhakar.com, info@matejhakar.com
Collaborators and suppliers
Structural engineer: Erik Duhaň
Graphic design: Tomáš Eisner
Statics: Michal Varga
Building services: Štefan Petkanič
Electrical installation: Erik Špak
General contractor: Chemkostav
Graphics realization: Sedem
Concrete paintings: Natreto
