Ofis: apartment block, Izola, Slovenia.

Ofis are a young Slovenian practice who were premiated in last year's Emerging Architecture Awards for their imaginative addition to Ljubljana's City Museum (AR December 2004). Formerly part of Yugoslavia, Slovenia managed to stay out of the toxic disintegration of the Balkans and is now part of the EU. As exposure to external influences grows, Slovenian architectural culture is becoming increasingly lively and sophisticated, looking northwards across the Alps to Austria and Germany for sources of inspiration.

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Ofis are currently working on a number of housing projects, including this one in Izola, a town on the Slovenian coast. The brief is for a block of 30 affordable apartments aimed at young couples and families, so budget and space standards are far from generous. Despite these constraints and a site on the industrial edge of town, Ofis manage to create a lively and eye-catching block, its facades animated by a series of angular, pod-like loggias. Sun and privacy shading is provided by textile screens which add to the general gaiety and variety of the composition. Now on site, the project is due to be completed later this year. C. S.

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