The location of the new Innovation Center building aims to mediate between the traditional patrimonial fabric of Arany János – Călărașilor streets and the modernist ensemble of the National Theater and its related Square. The chosen typology reintegrates the alignment of the fronts of the square on Călărașilor street and together with the dominant building of the Theater forms a new urban island. In this way, the new building responds to the development principles of the traditional city, while remaining reverent towards the buildings of the modernist ensemble. Due to its location, the new Innovation Center continues to the south through a public square the east-west axis crossing the Teatr Square. At the same time, to the north, access to the Theater’s Studio Room is highlighted, through the arrangement of a generous pedestrian relaxation area. The proposed height regime confirms the option of a contextual integration in relation to the existing neighborhoods, the building offering a human scale, which is also present in the historical buildings as well as in the cultural and commercial endowments of the modernist ensemble.
In order to ensure access to the underground parking lots, the project opts for minimally invasive access to public above-ground spaces, with the reduction of the mineral surface intended for vehicles. Bus access is proposed from Călărașilor Street, by reconfiguring the existing above-ground parking and turning it into a public green square. To avoid routes and turning radii that consume public space, the solution proposes quick access via an elevator platform. For the rest of the parking lots, two underground levels of the Innovation Center building are used, with a quick ramp access from Călărașilor Street.
Beyond the stake of the location of a new building and some underground parking, the project proposes a strategy to calm the traffic on Arany János and Morii streets, by proposing a share-space type reconfiguration of the two pocket squares along them. These measures are joined by the functional modification of Călărașilor and Aurel Filimon streets, to ensure a better hierarchy of car traffic, public transport and the appearance of alignment plantations (on Călărașilor Street) and the presence of bicycle paths and more generous sidewalks (on Aurel Filimon street).