Best Residence Cotroceni is a premium residential building on Panduri Road, in Cotroceni — about 100 m from the Marriott hotel, next to the Palace of the Parliament, Izvor Park and the Botanical Garden. But the story of this project begins with a blocked plot: an authorised yet unfeasible building, which PPAE completely rethought and finally made possible. Developed by Diamond Real Estate, the building brings together 65 apartments — from studios to duplexes — with commercial spaces on the ground floor. PPAE acted as General Designer.

Challenges

The site inherited a project authorised back in 2010 — a tall building of the 3B+G+14F type, too slender for the small plot on which it was to be built. The initial solution was technically and economically unfeasible, and this deadlock prevented construction for almost a decade, between 2010 and 2019: a central, valuable plot left unused. The real challenge was not aesthetic, but fundamental — how to turn a building impossible to construct into a feasible one, while preserving the premium value of the site.

Solutions

PPAE radically rethought the project. The building was recomposed into a lower and more stable volume — 2B+G+10F+11F duplex, with stepped setbacks at the upper levels — correctly proportioned to the small plot, eliminating the excessive slenderness that had made the initial scheme unfeasible. The foundation was resolved through a general raft extended beyond the footprint of the basement, which absorbs the overturning effect. Parking, impossible to provide entirely underground on such a tight plot, was supplemented with above-ground parking levels, accessed via a car lift. The contemporary architecture, with generous glazed surfaces, capitalises on the central position, and the upper duplexes open towards the city. The building is designed to nZEB standard.

Result

For the developer, a plot blocked for almost a decade transformed into a premium building, built and sold, in one of the best positions in Bucharest. For PPAE, one of the clearest demonstrations of the value it brings: taking over an authorised but unfeasible project and radically transforming it into a successful one — exactly the kind of situation in which a good designer makes the difference between dead land and a realised investment.

Do you have an authorised project that cannot be built, or a plot blocked by an unfeasible solution? The PPAE team can rethink it from scratch. Contact us