Jazz Club Cekaonica , BIGZ
Jazz Club is situated on the rooftop of BIGZ building, former printing house designed by Dragia Braovan in the 1930 s, a representative of Belgrade modern architecture. The club occupies a part of worker s canteen - 80m2 and a large terrace - 100m2 with a beautiful panoramic view towards the city and its rivers.
As the building has been devastated for years, still waiting for its final refurbishment, "?ekaonica" (meaning "the waiting room") had to be a very low budget project. With the smallest possible interventions, space was brought to function. Now it emphasizes the beauty of pure enjoyment of the view and jazz, respecting context of the industrial architecture - simple interior elements, raw materials and flexible floor plan.
Most of the furniture was specially designed and hand made, while some were bought on flea markets.
Being sustainable means applying physics. A 50 meter tall column of air which is formed in the open staircase space inside the building creates a large pressure difference compared to the outside environment. A ventilation system consisting of adjustable grilles which allow or prevent natural airflow provides
ventilation of the whole space without using additional energy.
Very quickly, Jazz club ?ekaonica became one of the best jazz clubs in Belgrade with diverse cultural program. The project was just a start of reprogramming of this modernist industrial space into "cultural centre" .