Platinum Winner of the International Architecture & Design Awards 2025

CRIMINAL INSTITUTE OF CZECH REPUBLIC

Architecture

Institutional & Government Buildings

Concept / Professional Category

Architect / Designer:

MILAN RAK, ALENA REZNA

Studio:

ARCHTEAM

Copyright:

ARCHTEAM

Country:

Czechia

The compositional whole is given by a pair of longitudinal buildings set on a base and a massively divided space with atriums and greenery. The mass and volume division of individual units is based mainly on operational links in the buildings.
There are office spaces in the building by the street, while the complex operations of the Institute of Criminalistics are handled in the rear building. The front building is narrower and higher, with a solid cladding, evoking a wall – the fortification of the complex. The long mass is lightened by several “cuts” that form loggias, places with greenery for employees to rest.
The cladding of concrete elements underlines the solidity of the wall.
The rear building is located in the quieter part of the complex, due to its research and scientific workplaces. Its casing is structural, glass. The austerity is disturbed by V-shaped supports, which are also the load-bearing element. The gables of the building are lightened by loggias, connected to the employees’ day rooms.
The space demarcated by the buildings is intended for the common areas of the entrance hall, dining room, congress center and relaxation area. The common areas are divided by outdoor atriums with greenery and terraces.
New buildings will create facilities for increasing hedging needs Security and Development of the Police of the Czech Republic. And with a long-term view.

They are designed for all-day Departments that protect Significant interests of the company:
increasing resilience to security threats, reducing crime with an emphasis on economic crime and the fight with corruption, terrorism and organized crime, cybercrime and the suppression of extremism.
With regard to national importance the buildings are designed in passive energy
standard, characterized by a very low energy consumption and a quality indoor environment.
As a primary source of energy 200 boreholes with a depth of 150 m are designed for heating and cooling of new buildings for ground-water heat pumps. Skylights of the roof of a common building are used for photovoltaic. These energy sources allow buildings to be partially self-sufficient. The intention is in accordance with the principles environmental sustainability

ARCHTEAM

ARCHTEAM was founded by Milan Rak, who has been the main architect for all the studio’s projects for the entire time. In architectural designs and construction projects, it is based on the requirements of the builder and the construction site. ARCHTEAM´s houses act actively and uniquely in the environment, they have a specific interior and exterior atmosphere. By variability, they are able to adapt to changing user requirements over time. They are based on the concept of an expedient layout and construction solution of buildings and a simple method of their implementation. This achieves an efficient use of financial resources in the construction and use of buildings.