VA Studio – the architectural studio behind “Colorful Factory”

They are a young team of experts in the field of architecture and a subtle sense of humor. Colleagues and friends, united by their desire to develop their own style and to sign not only private projects, but also those of public importance. Project "Colorful Factory" is part of the portfolio of VA Studio already a year, but it lives in the hearts of several people from the team since the time they were working on their diploma theses. Although strongly discouraged by teachers and colleagues, they decided to graduate with topics related to public and school buildings, as well as the preservation of cultural heritage. Contrary to logic and the negative trends with the closure of schools in our country, the diploma work of arch. Rumyana Pavlitova is the first, but not the last time he designs a school building, and arch. Vladislav Mihailov ends with a project for the restoration and reconstruction of a hunting lodge. A few years later, as part of the VA Studio team, they, together with other architects, literally draw the path, the classrooms, the kitchens, the corridors and the studios of the future International School of Culinary Arts and Crafts in the village of Golyama Zhelyazna. 

In our desire to tell you a little about everyone who recognizes our initiative and helps implement the "Colorful Factory" project, we decided to talk to him - about the architecture of cities and what history they preserve, about what it is like to intervene in the work of a colleague from the past in order to save the present, and what sustainable thinking is when it comes to architecture.

Hard. Architecture is both a mirror of society and an almanac of its history. Buildings and the spaces they occupy are the most lasting traces that people leave for generations. Materials, colors, shapes, styles, scales – they all influence the casual passerby on the street, his children, his grandchildren, his guests from abroad on a daily basis. Good architecture – and by that I don’t mean just the buildings, but also the streets, parks, squares and everything else in a village or city – helps, calms, inspires, provides healthy sun, shade, ventilation, water and life. And it doesn’t intrude. The opposite – it gets in the way.

The most specific thing is that you have to both preserve the spirit of the building, some characteristic details, colors, even proportions, and breathe new life into it and adapt it to the new function, the new requirements related to earthquakes, evacuation, a universally accessible environment, dozens of electricity consumers, etc.

The primary school in the village of Golyama Zhelyazna was built in 1932. What does it tell about its time?

We learned extremely interesting stories while exploring the building and the village – how the idea came about, what its prototype was, how it was decided to move it to its current location. At that time, school buildings were being built en masse all over Bulgaria according to designs by various architects – most often Bulgarians who had studied in Europe and returned to practice at home. In neighboring Oreshak, there is a school very similar in architecture, recently renovated. For our part, we were never able to find out whose work the project was, but it is a very good example of the architectural modernism that had entered our country strongly at that time, slightly interpreted by adding stylized elements from traditional Bulgarian architecture.

The facades are clean and tidy, almost without detail, with very large double-glazed windows and decorative thickenings at the corners. The rooms are of great storey height, and the roofs are pitched with the characteristic for this period beveling of the gables on some facades, which gives the very curious reference to the rocker - very stylized, of course. Something very interesting - at the top of the building, at the highest point of the ridge of the roof, there is a turret - similar to a roof lantern, which for a long time we wondered whether it had any function or was just an artistic idea. It turned out that the building was ventilated through it in a natural way - because the heating of the classrooms was with solid fuel stoves, in order to have air exchange, there was a gap under the doors, and in the upper parts of the rooms there were grilles, from which peculiar air ducts to the under-roof space began, and from there the warm and exhaust air from the rooms was ventilated through the turret.

It sounds like a well-organized and sustainable ventilation system. How does this project architecturally fit into the context of sustainable thinking and an environmentally friendly lifestyle?

The most sustainable buildings are those that people are interested in maintaining and that have not been destroyed for centuries. In this sense, the reconstruction of a landmark building for the village, almost 100 years old, was the best way to start in the direction of how to leave the smallest possible footprint on nature and the environment in which we intervene. Unfortunately, modern realities and requirements do not allow us to just dust off the building and have it immediately live its new life - there were almost no sockets in it, there were 2-3 lamps per room, a common fountain in the corridor, external sanitary facilities. Among other things, the hall was structurally compromised and we had to demolish it completely. In the future, it is planned that the space will be rebuilt, slightly larger and with its completely new function as a restaurant and exhibition kitchen. We are adapting the building to be earthquake-resistant and universally accessible – we are adding an elevator, lifts, ramps and visual communication, we are making it energy-efficient with the use of thermal insulation and high-end joinery, LED lighting and modern heating, air conditioning and ventilation equipment, photovoltaic panels have been added, we are collecting rainwater and using it for watering, etc.

I would say that art in architecture is the main and unchanging spirit of the whole process, and science only helps an idea to be realized. As in any craft, the beginning is art – what to create, what form it should take, what higher thought to weave into its fabric so that it becomes unique in its own way, how to bear the marks of time and its creator. But the end is also art – the final touches, details, even decoration. Science helps us leave behind better quality and functioning buildings that will withstand time and use longer. But here's something curious – crafts are knowledge layered over generations + the skills to create something beautiful – science and art in one.