RIVER CITY PRAGUE - INTELLIGENT PLACE FOR INTELLIGENT PEOPLE

Occupying a 4 ha site, River City Prague is an urban development with a total rentable area of approximately 71,350 mІ. The development integrates office, retail and residential space to include a hotel (210 rooms), an aparthotel (100 apartments), restaurants and underground parking for 806 cars in a mature landscaped riverside location. This development will be realized in three phases and will be completed by 2010.

After years of seemingly endless preparations, the River City Prague project in the Prague 8 Karlín district appears set to get underway, although the beginning of construction is still months off. Karlín has been at the center of attention recently thanks to the efforts of developers like Real Estate Karlin, Karimpol and PobreZní, but these project are all to the south of PobreZní street, a four-lane road which divides the inhabitable portion of Karlín to the north from the waste land which dominates the river front property to its south. River City Prague is the western-most tip of a huge stretch of land along the river that should become one of the major development regions of the coming decade. Begun in 1995 by the developer AHI Group, it took until 1998 for the company to acquire a planning permit for the project whose first phase involves the construction of four buildings: two office buildings with a total of 40,000 m2 of space plus a 210-room hotel and a long-term stay, 100-apartment hotel. AHI eventually formed a joint venture with Europolis Invest to make the project feasible and the resulting company, River City Prague, is to invest EUR 100 million in the project over several phases. Infrastructure work is to begin within a matter of months and construction on the first office building, which is to be a bold, landmark building, should begin by the end of the year. Local architects A.D.N.S. worked with London-based KPF architects in coming up with the design which features a large, glass-enclosed atrium. The shape of the buildings is based on a number of considerations. Its basis is the shape of the land, but it took a great deal of searching to decide upon the size and structure of the building. The most important decision was to place a central boulevard between the buildings running parallel to the river. This will serve in the future as a means of linking River City Prague with the rest of the area, once it begins to undergo development.Lee Polisano of KPF architects said the team was well-aware that the project was only part of a greater whole which would be unfolding in coming years. "It must play an important role in establishing the principals of future urban development in this area," he said. "It will be integrated into the city and connect both sides of the river with new bridges, which will help to create another of Prague's great outdoor spaces for activity around the Vltava. It is also a 24-hour project with supporting activities to bring life, which is so important, into the urban environment."Polisano stressed that in addition to using less energy than most modern buildings, the exterior of the entire development was centered around preserving bio-corridors, in accordance with European Commission goals set forward for sustainable development. It will also feature new civic spaces and public parks, he said.Petr Dvorák of A.D.N.S. explained that the current project is just six hectares of a more than 60 hectare stretch of land along the river which will come under development. He points out that the current project is a complete shift in plans from what was once intended for the region. "At the beginning of the 20th century, a number of important state buildings were built along the river. There are studies from the 1920's and 30's for a new government neighborhood which were never realized. Prague doesn't have its own government quarter and the buildings are scattered about the entire city."These plans were not just the imaginative wanderings of planners from decades ago. The idea was not fully rejected until 1990 when it became clear that there would simply not be enough money available from the state budget to finance construction. But in the mean time, the land had been reserved and the plan extended to include the construction of a stadium which would serve as the centerpiece of an Olympic bid by the city. It had already been planned that earth would be moved from other construction sites to the future stadium site to serve as the foundation of the stands, and a hotel called the Olympik was built. AHI won a tender for the site in 1995 and began working on coloring in the blank white shading of the land. "In time, it became clear that the project can't be managed without a clear vision of the broader picture," said Dvorák. "So hand in hand with it, a study is being conceived and designed which will provide a solution not just for the tip of this land, but the remainder as well."A.D.N.S. got involved in the project in 1998 and directed the documentation push for the land use decision through. There are two of these: one for the infrastructure and one for six buildings. Dvorák said the project's conception has changed gradually over the years, as its presentation year after year at the MIPIM real estate market demonstrates. "But it's always been an extremely international project and has always been presented in Prague as a very progressive one." And it was at MIPIM that AHI met KPF from London. Dvorák sees the project as an important sign of what can be accomplished in Prague, pointing out that its international flavor shows what is possible in Prague. "I think this project could become an example in our city of how professional project can be realized. It's been shown that truly big-name architects can work in Prague. The team was put together with people from at least a tenth of all the nationalities found across Europe. We had to learn how to respect each other, meaning not only to respect each other people's opinions but also their different mentalities."But Dvorák is excited about the project on purely architectural grounds as well, mainly because of the huge, open atrium that is planned. "If it works out, it will be a unique thing in Prague. Although it's a commercial affair, that atrium is really quite a space. It's a huge thing, something like VeletrZní palác. You walk in there and everything is above you. Architects like these things and it's rare that it works out."AHI's unveiling of the new project was marred in part by a statement released to the press just days before by Capita Beard Dove which had been working for AHI on the project. Capita Beard Dove claims it is owed a great deal of money for work it did on the project, but AHI disputes this and says they owe CBA nothing. The dispute looks likely to be settled through the courts and Homola has been appointed as the new project manager.