14. Guest House Diena / naktis / fmr. Holiday House of the Bank of Lithuania

About

In the late Soviet era, when the Lithuanian Republican Office of the Construction Bank of the USSR decided to build a training base for its employees in Druskininkai, a special location was chosen – a quiet, low-rise, farmhouse-style street, opposite of the home of the composer and painter M. K. Čiurlionis. Architect Enrikas Tamoševičius sought to adapt the building to its surroundings by maintaining a two-storey level, breaking up the solid volume, and creating a sculptural terraced silhouette. Due to the sensitive context and the importance of the site, the Ministry of Construction of the LSSR authorised the use of deficit materials such as granite and terrazzo plaster for the facade finishes and aluminium for the window frames. For security, an exceptionally large bunker was built underneath the whole building and part of the courtyard. After the restoration of independence, the building was used for about two decades as the Bank of Lithuania’s summer residence under the name Vakaras, and today it is best known as the guest house Diena / Naktis.