Lávka Holešovice - Karlín - competition results

The subject of the competition was the development of an architectural and structural design for a pedestrian and cyclist footbridge connecting the banks of Karlín, Holešovice, and Štvanice Island. The proposed solution was to support a city-wide significant connection between the urban districts and simultaneously provide access to Štvanice Island. The bridge should offer comfortable and easy access.

Organizer: Capital City of Prague, Department of Strategic Investments of the Capital City of Prague 

Secretary of the Competition: Ing.arch. Michaela Kloudová, Office of Projects and Competitions IPR Prague 

Date of the competition: 10.4.2017 - 25.7.2017
Date of announcement of results: 26.3.2018
Number of submitted proposals: 48
Total prizes and awards: 1,750,000 CZK

Regular jury members - dependent
Ing. Karel Prajer / Director of the Department of Strategic Investments of the Capital City of Prague
MgA. Marek Kopeć / Head of the Office of Projects and Competitions IPR Prague
Petr Dolínek / Deputy Mayor of the Capital City of Prague for Transport, Sports, and Leisure
PhDr. Ing. arch. Lenka Burgerová, Ph.D. / Councilor for Architecture and Urban Development Prague 7
Roman Petrus / Mayor of the City District Prague 8

Regular jury members - independent
Doc. Ing. arch. Radek Kolařík
Ing. arch. Ivan Lejčar
Prof. Ing.arch. Mirko Baum / Architect
Ing. Ondřej Hofmeister/ Civil Engineer
Ing. Ladislav Šašek, CSc. / Expert on Bridge Structures
Ing.arch. MgA. Barbora Šimonová / Architect

Substitutes for the jury - dependent
Ing.arch. Zdeněk Ent / IPR Prague, Architect
Mgr. Jan Čižinský / Mayor of the City District Prague 7

Substitutes for the jury - independent
Ing. arch. Vojtěch Sosna / Architect
Ing. Michal Marcinov / Landscape Architect

Invited experts include representatives of the Vltava River Basin Authority, the National Heritage Institute, and the Department of Heritage Care of the Capital City of Prague: Ing. Jiří Friedel (Vltava River Basin Authority, Director of the Lower Vltava Plant), Ing. arch. Ondřej Šefců (Director of the Regional Office of the National Heritage Institute), Ing. arch. Pavlína Koutková (Specialized Urban Staff of the Department of Heritage Care of the Capital City of Prague) 
The jury may invite additional experts and consultants during its proceedings, always with the consent of the client.

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1st place: 1,000,000 CZK
Authors: Ing.arch. Marek Blank, Ing.arch. MgA. Petr Tej, Ph.D.
Cooperation: Ing. Jan Mourek, Janek Srnka, Ing. Jiří Hejzlar
Jury Evaluation: The proposal exceeded the standard according to the criteria of the quality of the overall solution of the footbridge, namely in terms of the quality of the architectural proposal, structural solution, and urban integration, economy, and economic adequacy of the chosen solution concerning fulfilling the client's preferences. The authors managed to elegantly integrate the footbridge for pedestrians and cyclists into the given space, respecting the height of the structure above water level Q 2002 + 1 m, whereby the approach on the Holešovice side solves smoothly, aesthetically, and functionally the movement of pedestrians and cyclists by elevating the end span during flood time, thus fully respecting the client's conditions. From the perspective of broader urban relationships, it is a very successful solution that harmoniously incorporates into the framework of Karlín and Holešovice. It also makes good use of the terrain level on Štvanice. The elegance of the smooth curve of the bridge's supporting structure is accentuated by the choice of material, which is ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) allowing for a quality smooth surface. UHPC meets the requirements for maintenance-free and, in terms of service life, a higher quality material more comfortably than commonly used concrete. The higher cost of the building material is compensated by a slender profile that leads to weight reduction. Its high-strength parameters allow for relatively large spans. UHPC is a progressive, innovative material enabling architecturally and structurally modern elegant solutions. The proposed width of the footbridge of 3 m is marginal. The jury recommends considering possible expansion.

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3rd place: 350,000 CZK
Authors: 
Ing.arch. Lukáš Landa, Arch. Pavel Rak
Cooperation: Ferrari Gartmann AG, Patrick Gartmann, Patrick Tester
Jury Evaluation: The proposal exceeded the standard for the quality of the overall solution of the footbridge, namely in terms of the quality of the architectural proposal, structural solution, and urban integration, economy, and economic adequacy of the chosen solution concerning fulfilling the client's preferences. The jury appreciates the simplicity of the basic geometry, the elegance of the floor plan shape, the predictable cost-effectiveness of the detail, and the functionality of the proposed materials and technologies. A strong motive is the horizontal line of the deck, which significantly calms the distant view of the urban panorama. A weaker side of the proposal is the connections to both banks and Štvanice island; the symmetrical solution of the ramps supplemented by stairs, located on the axis of the bridge on both the Holešovice and Rohanského island sides, is not adequate to the location and is questionable from an operational perspective. Likewise, the placement of the stairs in the lowest part of Štvanice island cannot be considered appropriate in terms of both the operation of the footbridge and the movement of visitors to the island, as well as concerning the relationship between the structure and morphology. The criticized deficiencies, according to the majority opinion of the jury members, are removable within the framework of potential completion of the proposal so that their impact is eliminated.

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Award: 100,000 CZK
Author: Petr Hájek ARCHITEKTI, s.r.o. / 
prof. Ing.Mgr.akad.arch. Petr Hájek, Martin Stoss, Nikoleta Slováková, Tereza Keilová
Cooperation: Jiří Čepelka, Jan Vyštejn
Jury Evaluation: The proposal met the criteria for the quality of the overall solution of the footbridge, i.e., in terms of the quality of the architectural proposal. The proposal overall met the requirements of the client regarding its architectural quality, structural solution, economy, and economic adequacy. It is sympathetic for its straightforwardness, clarity, and not least for its certain humor, manifested in the additional offer of three gondolas propelled by human power. The proposal brings an interesting idea of a markedly technical solution with a high degree of factory prefabrication. The structure based on a spatial grid of equilateral triangles resembles engineering structures known from the field of mobile military constructions (Bailey Bridge) and from auxiliary construction provisions. Given the thorough prefabrication, it is a relatively economical structure, but only under the condition of effective and permanent anti-corrosion measures. The design ignores the connection of the structure to the urban frameworks of both districts, and the connection to Štvanice island is more or less random. Whether this randomness was intentional and whether it was an advantage or a disadvantage of the proposal was a subject of inconclusive discussion.

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Award: 100,000 CZK
Authors: 
Ing.arch. Přemysl Jurák, Ing.arch. Karel Filsak, 
Ing.arch. Roman Chvilíček
Cooperation: Ing. Libor Pokorný, Ing. Martin Kovář
Jury Evaluation: The proposal met the criteria for the quality of the overall solution of the footbridge, namely in terms of the quality of the architectural proposal, structural solution, and urban integration, economy, and economic adequacy of the chosen solution concerning fulfilling the client's preferences. The chosen form of the footbridge is clear and appropriately complements the river panorama with its monumentality. The elegant curve of the footbridge logically and correctly follows the main urban axes on both banks. The structure is architecturally divided into the supporting and supported walking parts. It is simply designed and promises a reasonable cost of implementation. The chosen height solution of the walking part of the footbridge smoothly and naturally connects to the paths on both sides of the river. The question is the monumental exit to Štvanice island. A fundamental weakness of the proposal is the behavior of the structure during a flood. The submerged part of the footbridge would highly likely create a barrier that would probably not withstand the floodwater load. It is unfortunate that the authors did not take advantage of the possibility of lifting the walking part of the footbridge in this context, which was available.

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