Opera House and Luxury Apartments to Replace Kolizej Complex
A revised version of a modern building which is to be put up at the site of Kolizej, the dilapidated building in the centre of Ljubljana, was presented at Ljubljana City Hall on Wednesday. The building, which will also be home to a new opera house, is expected to be completed by 2012.
The project of the Dutch Neutelings Ruedjik Architecten bureau envisages a building accommodating a 19,960 sq. metre concert and opera hall, an up to 18-storey office and residential tower, five-storey residential villas, supermarkets, and five underground storeys for parking.
Architect Willem Jan Neutelings, who won the competition for the project along with Mihail Riedijk three years ago, said today that the opera hall in the heart of the building was designed for 1,811 spectators, and was comparable to some of the best know opera houses in the world, notably the State Opera in Vienna, Milan's Scala theatre and London's Royal Opera House Covent Garden. The deputy mayor of Ljubljana Janez Kozelj, also an architect, said that the concerns regarding the hight of the building, which were voiced when the project was selected, had been addressed by cutting the highest tower from 96 to 73 metres, thus bringing it in line with some of the best-know higher buildings in the capital.
Investor Joze Anderlic estimates the project, which will extend over 83,000 square metres, at EUR 180m, the opera hall alone being worth EUR 70m. While Anderlic said that a public-private investment approach would be sought, Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Jankovic said it was too early to say whether the municipality would chip in for the opera hall.
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