The National Bank of Slovakia Tower or NBS Building is a skyscraper in Bratislava, Slovakia. It was commissioned by the National Bank of Slovakia for its head office, replacing the former Bratislava branch building of the National Bank of Czechoslovakia erected in the 1930s. After several years of construction delays, it opened on 23 May 2002.
The NBS building is located in Bratislava 1 (Old Town) district. With a height 111 meters, it was the country's tallest building at the time of completion,[1] and ranked fourth in the list of tallest buildings in Slovakia as of 2024.
Background
editBuilding project proposals
editThe public tender for the NBS building received 24 competitive proposals. A jury of 21 specialists in architecture, construction, and banking assisted NBS in choosing the winner. The project went to Martin Kusý and Pavol Paňák. Construction started in November 1996.
Architecture
editThe National Bank of Slovakia was established as a new institution following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in late 1992, and unlike many national central banks in Europe, it did not have much of a past institutional history to refer to. The tower's design architect Pavol Paňák explained: "Because this is a new, dynamic, developing republic, this building should reflect that lack of historical context".[1]
The lower horizontal part of the building houses the operational facilities of the Bank. The building also includes a congress hall and exhibition premises. This part of the building is built around a central yard with a raised green area. The tower itself contains administrative offices.[2]
The design was realised exclusively by Slovak companies. The construction was carried out by the Association H – V – Z (Hydrostav, a.s., Bratislava, Váhostav, a.s., Žilina, ZIPP, s.r.o., Bratislava). Engineering activity was provided by the Association of Engineering (Keramoprojekt, a.s., Trenčín, Keraming, v.o.s., Trenčín, Chempik, a.s., Bratislava).
Statistics
edit- Height: 111 m
- Floors: 33
- Underground floors: 3
- Area: around 6.000 m²
- Number of lifts: 23
- Capacity: 1 005 people
- Number of underground parking places: 305
References
edit- ^ a b Rick Zedník (5 June 1997). "34-floor National Bank is Slovakia's tallest building". The Slovak Spectator.
- ^ "Technical specifications of the building" (PDF). Národná Banka Slovenska.
External links
edit- About the building on the NBS site (Slovak only)