Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) recently unveiled plans for its newest endeavor, a renovation of the area adjacent to Masaryk Railway Station in Prague, Czech Republic. This major building project will reinvigorate a brownfield urban site that has been derelict for the past several years and will establish a new central business district for the city. In addition, ZHA hopes to integrate the city’s transport networks, including various bus and rail lines.
“The mixed-use development stitches together Prague’s Districts 1, 3 and 8, minimizing the impact of the elevated Wilsonova Highway which separates them,” said the firm in a statement. “The project’s unifying composition creates a sequence of buildings and interconnecting public spaces along Na Florenci Boulevard. A new public plaza is created adjacent to the railway station, providing a gateway to the city.”
This new business district is only one kilometer (0.62 miles) from Prague’s central square and ZHA has taken care to blend their scheme with the shape and texture of the Old Town. The part of the project that faces the railway station will have a horizontal composition, while the buildings facing the Old Town will have more of a vertical orientation, complimenting that of the “City of 100 Spires.” ZHA describes its attentiveness to the surrounding urban space as a “dialogue” between old and new.
The project is both civic and business minded. The plazas in this scheme stitch together parts of the city that were formerly blocked off from one another and increases accessibility to bus and train terminals. On the business side, the new office space that will open up in the sleek new buildings will be a boon to Prague’s growing IT sector.
Craig Kiner, Project Associate at ZHA, summed up the project: “In collaboration with our partners and the city, we have developed an urbanism for the site which draws inspiration from our analysis of the city and the site’s dynamic circulation networks, creating an architectural response that is sensitive to context, unifying in aspiration and contributes to the urban fabric of Prague.”