A railway station site in central Prague was to be given over to intensive property development. The brief included the general planning for a new headquarters campus for the Česká Spořitelna bank and the master planning for the entire Smíchov South area. Another important requirement was the integration of the development into the surrounding urban fabric.

Smíchov South will be much more than a service centre. Working with local architecture firm Pavel Hnilička, we have created a new quarter with its own urban character and a view of the River Vltava. Urban in the European sense, it offers a network of mixed-used buildings, upmarket public space and green areas. In all, it comprises eight structures linked both above and below ground with four of the buildings forming the distinctive banking campus.

Broad boulevard with urban flair

The centrepiece of the new quarter is a north-south boulevard that connects the old part of the district to the railway station. This broad, car-free area successively broadens out and narrows down to create a series of spaces with different views – oases of calm and busy nodes. Partially covered by projecting buildings or styled as arcades, they provide a connection between private buildings and the public domain.

Open façades housing shops, restaurants, cafes and other service providers help create a lively and interesting streetscape. A simple yet flexible system was developed for the façades with rectangular or triangular wall panels framing both portrait- and landscape-format windows. This framework and the different window proportions are tailored specifically to the topography and exposition of each building, an organisation that produces a varied set of façades. Inside, flexible and functionally neutral office space guarantees the long-term and thus sustainable use of the buildings.

Lines of trees and roof gardens provide green balance

Alongside the buildings and the public space, the quarter also owes its distinctive character to the sophisticated landscaping. All its roof surfaces are planted with floral carpets of differing intensity, while along the boulevard trees have been planted in lines that follow the paths of communication or islands in the open spaces creating a green filter between the building façades. The aim of the landscaping is to balance out wherever possible the loss of natural ground.