New Eden House, Prague
Prague’s soul
Prague has not been ravaged by war, and hence multiple styles of architecture coexist in this multicultural city. Much of the architectural characteristics are preserved as such. Our design is not a mere amalgamation of architectural characteristics and visual elements of the “city of hundred spires” but an honest attempt at capturing the soul of Prague and reinterpreting it. We find that the floating population exceeding the residential population of Prague makes it a pivotal aspect of our design process.
Evolution of design
Usually, Low rise wide buildings restrict the availability of natural light and ventilation. At the first stage of design we inculcated a narrow vertical form maximising ventilation, views and sunlight. The existing building which is a cultural center, is not blocking the view of the apartments blocks. We insisted to keep this character intact, by raising the high density apartments block (townhouse block) to accommodate an open street within the building to keep the view intact for the neighbouring Vlasta housing estate. The idea of combining living and working, is made convenient through parallel streets running through multiple floors. This design prototype will work as a single module and can be scaled up.
In a typical high rise Building living, work and leisure is stacked up vertically. At the second stage of design, we retained the leisure aspect at the bottom, but the vertical stacking of work and living was replaced with a horizontal setup. In a situation where coworking and online work is increasing, we are taking the “home- street – work” flow to the building level. Thus we get to preserve the spirit of daily interaction and chit chat of the street within the high rise prototype.
We go High-rise
As a city with a tradition of high rise spires, we are bringing the high rises back into the cityscape. We have combined the three main characteristics of the traditional cityscape - high rise spires, squares and streets. We intend to weave these elements in harmony within the urban fabric. As a whole, our building will be novel in form but at an intimate scale, people of Prague can relate at a tangible and spiritual level. This building may evoke different memories for different people albeit keeping the intrinsic spirit of the city.
The neighbourhood
We identified three main nodes in the context of the building – railway promenade, main road and Tesco square. Our design connects the traffic between all three nodes through the Eden boulevard creating unobstructed access for pedestrians. Currently our site is at a disconnected lower level compared to the front road and the Tesco square. Our approach is to make it enjoyable and smoother for the flow of pedestrian traffic connecting the railway promenade, Tesco square and the front road. We intend to direct the pedestrian traffic organically towards the railway promenade through points of interest scattered throughout the sunlit Eden boulevard.
Views and vistas
At the third stage of design, we have further split the vertical work segment into platforms which capture the very essence of street life. This stage was keeping in mind better penetration of sunlight and better airflow even to the lowest levels of the building. The ease of connectivity will stimulate chance interactions and add to the overall mental and emotional connectedness of its inhabitants.
Housing typology
designed keeping in mind the lowest number of corridors for the building while maximising usable area per liveable units, there is only 1 corridor in every 3 floors. The saved corridors double as the platforms which connect with the workspace.
providing balconies and other openings towards both sides thus creating a visibility of the squares of the work unit from each apartment. Thus we get to keep the innate street- balcony relationship intact especially considering the dynamic nature of community life that unfolds in the streets.
Rental typology
Trying to create an interactive mix between diverse groups of people. Instead of using money as the sole enabler of livelihoods, we have created public interaction spaces for activities such as pizza making, music performances, yoga classes, etc.
These platforms and streets also respond and adapt to the seasonal changes – both climatic and cultural. During winters, designated public spaces will double as ice rinks for skating while in summers, they form a lush landscape for outdoor flea markets. The squares also accommodates for traditional Czech cultural activities like that of theatre.
Transport Solution
Considering existing connections and transport ways, the access to the new building is given directly through the main road from the front. The entrance to the underground parking is given adjacent to the existing road to the parking of TESCO. The requires the widening of the existing junction in front of the entrance. However, this approach ensures minimum addition to the existing condition.
