Beehive Hostivař

The Beehive as a Landscape Dominant
In November 2021, we completed the construction of a beehive located in the area of Galerie Golf Hostivař. It stands on a hill at the entrance to the complex and can be beautifully seen from the restaurant terrace. However, behind this small structure lies a symbolic story.
Some time in 2014, we were approached by the ladies from the Hradčanské včely association, who needed to design and build a beehive in the Petřín Gardens. Bees need to be helped!
We proposed a beehive as an elevated lamella dome with an octagonal floor plan, reminiscent of the dome above the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. After a series of modifications, the project was liked by the heritage preservationists, who supported its placement in the Petřín Gardens in an amended form.
However, its realization turned out to be somewhat politically complicated, and unfortunately, despite our earnest efforts, it has not been built to this day.
Three years later, we were invited by the then director of the Czech Cultural Center in Israel, Lukáš Přibyl, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia and the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel by designing and building a tower in Jerusalem. At that time, we were inspired by the shape of our beehive. We significantly modified it, resulting in the Ester Tower, which proudly stands in the gardens of Hansen House, just 1.5 km from the Western Wall.
It is spring 2021, and a group of investors is meeting in our office to discuss one of our projects. Suddenly, the owner of the golf course in Hostivař, Mr. Martin Kulík, noticed the visualization of the original version of the beehive hanging on the wall. It was love at first sight! Our chief designer and builder, Zbyněk Šrůtek – the same Zbyněk Šrůtek who built the Ester Tower in Jerusalem with his carpenters – started his machines just a few months after this meeting.
But before he could build the beehive, the organizers of the exhibition Czech Modern Architecture from Art Nouveau to Today led by Professor Vladimír Šlapeta and Petr Ivanov approached us. The exhibition was to start in the Riding School of Prague Castle in the autumn of 2021, and their inquiry to us was: “Do you have models that could be used for this prestigious exhibition?” We did! Our 1:1 beehive was just in production!
The vast and high spaces of the Riding School highlighted the beehive – the entry exhibit of the exhibition – appropriately, and we believe that at least in this way it breathed the scent of Jerusalem and its sister Ester.
It was only in November 2021 that the beehive moved from the Riding School to Hostivař, where it now proudly towers over the landscape.
This slender structure of ours is a reminder that architecture sometimes has a hard time and its path to the goal often leads through very unpredictable and winding trails. May it be a celebration of all those who move things forward with their work, effort, courage, and last but not least, money. All of them made possible not only the creation of the beehive, including its short excursion to Prague Castle, but also the establishment of the Ester Tower. And last but not least, may the Hostivař beehive also remind us of those who came up with the initial impulse – the beehive at Petřín. Their beehive is still waiting for its patrons, but we firmly believe that it will soon see the light of day as well. Of course, it will not be the same as the one in Hostivař. It will be different. But it is already a key part of this entire story, which today culminates at the golf course in Hostivař.