Centre of experimental energetics in Klasirnica - former Pesje coal separation plant.
Klasirnica is an abandoned coal separation plant that formerly functioned as part of the Velenje Coal mine complex, now under threat of demolition. Our proposal is to reuse it as a centre for innovative energetics focusing on vibration energy, to be gathered from a new highway route through Velenje. The project connects research, testing and application of vibration energy and circular energy system establishment, with public interaction through art, education and general use possibilities.
Regional
Slovenia
Šaleška valley // Velenje
Mainly urban
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
As individual(s) in partnership with organisation(s)
First name: Gaja Last name: Žgank Gender: Female Please describe the type of organization(s) you work in partnership with: Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana Age: 23 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Nationality: Slovenia Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Zoisova 12 Town: Ljubljana Postal code: 1000 Country: Slovenia Direct Tel:+386 41 693 077 E-mail:gajazgank@gmail.com
First name: Vita Last name: Kocjan Gender: Female Please describe the type of organization(s) you work in partnership with: Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana Age: 23 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Nationality: Croatia Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Zoisova 12 Town: Ljubljana Postal code: 1000 Country: Slovenia Direct Tel:+385 91 923 1243 E-mail:vitakocjan8@gmail.com
First name: Isidora Last name: Marinković Gender: Prefer not to say Please describe the type of organization(s) you work in partnership with: Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana Age: 23 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Nationality: Serbia Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Zoisova 12 Town: Ljubljana Postal code: 1000 Country: Slovenia Direct Tel:+386 70 180 212 E-mail:isidoramar@icloud.com
Šaleška valley is an energetics powerhouse - TEŠ power plant provides approximately a third of Slovenia’s electricity. It is powered by the coal extracted from Velenje mines, whose yield in one point in history required a 55 metre tall coal separation facility for sorting and exporting lignite. Mining has been very influential in the area, sprouting two towns, forming three lakes due to mining techniques, and giving a strong cultural identity to locals and the landscape. But tides had turned on coal; Klasirnica was decommissioned after 20 years of use, and with the move away from mining, the area now wishes to rebrand itself, and to do so by removing the markers of its past. A new tide of change is washing over the area; a new regional highway that messily cuts between the “old” identity markers of mining heritage and the rest of Velenje. The development of this new highway across Velenje should be used as a new beginning in the region. Great amounts of energy are produced by the vibrations of road users, so is the amount of potential of use. The use of vibrations as an energy source is in development, that is where we found use for Klasirnica - as an experimental energetics centre. The project connects research, testing, and establishing of vibration energy with public interaction through art experiences, and the possibility of renting spaces powered by this new energy source. Research areas are complemented by interventions, which gather and present newly developed technologies throughout the entire building. This ensures the promotion of alternate sources of energy, and provides an educational tool to the public. We are fighting for the preservation of a striking piece of 20th century coal mining heritage, a building that exemplifies the productivity of the mines and the population. With this project we want to emphasise the importance of industrial heritage, and how we can give these spaces a second life, and a chance to create an overall healthier environment.
Industrial heritage
Energetics
Adaptive Reuse
Regional Connections
Science Communication
Klasirnica, with its 55 metres in height, dominates its surrounds. Due to the nature of the process of coal separation, the building has a rigid skeletal reinforced concrete construction. Its demolition would create 15 856,77 m3 of building waste. The landfill would receive 38 056,25 tonnes of reinforced concrete rubble. And yet it is slated for demolition. Therefore the first accomplishment in preserving it would be - the preservation of approx. 11 000 m2 of floor area in a location, where if the building were to be demolished, a comparatively-sized replacement would not be allowed to be built. Due to the nature of the circular concept - an experimental platform for alternative energetics ie. vibrations - Klasirnica’s goal is to be self-sufficient, and in a way that further develops such technologies as accessible, and to concentrate expertise in the areas surrounding the science, law, and economics regarding sustainable development.
Klasirnica has a specific look for an industrial building; besides the purely functionalist aspects, there is an obvious architectural aesthetic expression in its lake-facing facade, which is covered with vertical stripes of windows - a peculiarity for an industrial building that had never been intended for a human workforce. Despite the unique look, it gets repeatedly assessed as “ugly” in the public eye, a descriptor that we hope to shed through accentuating architectural qualities of the space through minimal interventions. The program is distributed by matching analysed ambients with the suitable type of program (introverted/extroverted). This takes into account the existing openings in the concrete slabs, thus preserving them, and the contact they provide between spaces. The new intervention takes the form of piezoelectric sensor—equipped flooring that gathers vibration energy; a new ceiling construction works with the floor grid to allow for installing detachable room dividers, which can further adapt the space to required needs. The idea of experiencing the space as a whole is developed through decentralised communications, that encourage exploration, and help with orientation inside. The eastern production line connection between Klasirnica and a neighbouring facility can be repurposed to an additional access point for visitors. On the outside - the ordered and austere lake-facing north facade is to be preserved - the blind southern facade is to be converted into an installation piece of kinetic wind panels, thus creating a communication point to the neighbourhood of Pesje across the railroad tracks.
Redeveloping a machine-as-building into a building for people provides unique design opportunities, and allows for accessibility as top objective in intervening with the existing state. Developing the concept with art as an equal to science and technology is crucial to establishing the science communication aspect of the design - which takes place in the ambiental and extroverted spaces within Klasirnica, all connected though decentralised communications, yet all individually accessible through the quick-access building core.
The involvement of the public is crucial and necessary for running the new research platform Klasirnica. In this way, the programme also simultaneously reconnects the residents of Velenje to their estranged heritage. Reigniting activity in the area, with explicit focus on wellbeing, pairs to the park grounds on the lake shore, making the entire belt more accessible to the community of Pesje with the rest of town, a green connection that would endure past the routing of the new highway. The dimensions of sustainability, accessibility, and architectural integrity are not just to be combined in this project - they crucially depend on each other in order to be realised in their full potential, and are thus inseparable.
Klasirnica is a polarising building in a not at all unique situation for industrial heritage in the country. The immediate local population, that live just across the road from the mine, carry negative memories of it, for it had created much dust and disturbance for 20 years, and now that it had been silent for another 20, they want it gone. The municipal leadership, while receptive to new proposals and perspectives, has not acted upon that interest, and is planning a complete redevelopment in the area. We are not the first to tackle the question of reuse of Klasirnica, an architecturally sensitive minority of locals does not want to see it gone. Our outreach works have so far consisted of internal critiques with the municipality, to convince the leadership to at least postpone their redevelopment efforts, instead of investing a considerable amount of the upfront cost of just demolishing Klasirnica.
We quickly became convinced in the truth of the statement that industrial heritage conservation is an interdisciplinary matter. Due to the complex nature of financing plans for big adaptive efforts, and the precarious state of the very existence of Klasirnica, we are proposing for the space to be utilised as soon as the building is out of danger of demolition. Thus, we have detailed three phases of restoration and utilisation, where Klasirnica is occupied in the maximum capacity allowed by the state of the building, and program. Phases don’t need to be cycled through in quick succession, and each is a balancing act of conservation efforts, architectural intervention, and program enrichment in a way that would bring economic viability to the project. We have advised with guest critics from the Faculty of Economics, who helped us with creating a balanced framework.
It is crucial to recognise and register Klasirnica as industrial heritage, to allow for renovation works to take place. A protected status would save it from the fate of many other important industrial buildings that have already been lost in Slovenia. Many more so face the question of their preservation, due to lack of interest for their repurpose, or due to doubt in the heritage status of industrial buildings outright. But the fact remains that these buildings have co-created our past and consequently our present to the great extent in several ways. Due to the complex requirements posed by renovation works to accommodate these programs, we have developed three phases of realisation. In all three phases we strive to utilise as much of the available space, with the program being adapted to the stage of renovation. With this development approach we aim to achieve the enlivenment of the space in the shortest time possible, and to also allow for further development of the space.
While our proposal for Klasirnica is also a work of activism, the framework of “assessment // architectural analysis // reputation rehabilitation with the public // economic viability // phase approach to enlivenment // self-funding opportunities” is one that we wish to present as an applicable tool for adaptive reuse of other industrial heritage candidates. While introducing development of the space in phases, it poses an opportunity to ease the public towards Klasirnica, and have them witness all phases. Through making an example out of such a large case study, we want to showcase the accessibility of adaptive reuse as a tool for enlivening formerly industrial areas in neighbouring communities in the country, many of which also have decaying but beautiful spaces.
The “want now, fast, new” attitude brought about contemporary consumerism has bled into architecture, and funds for a global detransition from fossil fuels will not be available “now, fast”. Integrating a gradual approach to reusing Klasirnica allows for ebbs and flows in funding and attitude for sustainability, while maintaining the integrity of the building and allowing for a slow and organic reincorporation into public life. Establishing a program that prioritises innovativeness, helps maintain a curiosity towards alternative energy, and makes it something that is to be engaged with at all times.
