“Welcome to Zagreb! When passing through Zagreb, a renowned historical, tourist, and business centre, do not forget to visit the newly opened 19-floor Sport Hotel, located at Daničićeva bb, near the indoors swimming pool of SD Mladost. En suite rooms, hot and cold water, sunbathing terrace, restaurant, banquet hall, reading room, phonotheque, and a music room!”
Sport Hotel was constructed in 1968 according to the design of an architect Slavko Jelinek and the AGI-46 architectural bureau, with collaborators Stjepan Krajač and Ivo Linardić. It was ceremonially opened in 1969. The investor was “Stanoinvest,” a housing company from Zagreb. The main project was completed in 1964, with a location permit granted, and technical installation control took place in 1965 (Construction Documentation Collection of the State Archives in Zagreb). The hotel stands 75 metres high, with 228 rooms and 51 apartment suites across 19 floors, and a two-level terrace at the top. It is located at Trg Krešimira Ćosića 9. The hotel was originally built to accommodate workers employed in construction of nearby residential buildings.
The 1960s marked a time of migration from rural areas to cities. This was the time when Zagreb began to expand across the Sava River, with new neighbourhoods being built in Novi Zagreb (New Zagreb). In the early 1970s Dom sportova (Sports Hall) was built to host sporting events, concerts, and similar activities, and the Hotel was repurposed to accommodate tourists visiting events in Zagreb. With the development of tourist facilities and sports centres around the Hotel, its original purpose was abandoned, and it functioned simply as a regular hotel. The building did not require significant adaptation for its new role (only minor reorganisation of bathrooms in each room), as it already featured necessary amenities such as a barbershop, hairdresser, telephone booths, and sanitary facilities. On the ground floor, there was a breakfast room, and on the mezzanine, various rooms for activities such as a TV room, a music room, and classrooms with cloakroom and toilet facilities. At the top of the Hotel there was a swimming pool, sunbathing area, and viewing platform, all accessible via a freight lift or three passenger lifts. The interior design of Sport Hotel was the work of Bernardo Bernardi, who used tables, counters, chairs and sofas made from metal or wooden structures with ergonomic leather seats, and simple geometric shapes.
Architect Slavko Jelinek had to consider various regulations for fast, cost-effective construction while also meeting the demands of the investors, urban planning solutions, and the latest building standards for seismically active areas. Despite adhering to these laws, the hotel was damaged in the 2020 Zagreb earthquake and is set to be restored and reopened in Spring 2023 under a new name— Zonar Hotel.
(I. K.)
SOURCES:
Vanja, Hotel “Panorama”, https://mapiranjetresnjevke.com/kvartovi/stara-tresnjevka/hotel-panorama/, 20 March 2023
Margetić Urlić, R., Slavko Jelinek. Zagreb: Udruženje hrvatskih arhitekata, 2009.
