The cable car from Prague's Podbaba to Bohnice will be designed by British architects

Prague – The cable car from Prague's Podbaba to Bohnice will be designed by architects from the London studio William Matthews Associates. They succeeded in the architectural competition organized by Prague Public Transport Company (DPP) for the design of three stations and five support towers of the cable car. This was reported by DPP spokesperson Aneta Řehková. The cable car is intended to provide a direct connection between Prague 8 and Prague 6.

"The winning design by William Matthews Associates, who also have experience with the London cable car, fits best into its surroundings between Podbaba, Troja, and Bohnice. I hope that in a few years we will be able to ride this elegant means of transport," said Adam Scheinherr, the deputy mayor for transport (Praha Sobě). The winning studio has designed, among other things, the modernization of London Bridge station in addition to the London cable car.

The winning team prepared the design in collaboration with Boele Architects and Expedition Engineering, with support from consultants DCSA and Agile CE. For their victory, they will receive 1.8 million crowns and will now collaborate with DPP on the project documentation for the construction. The second place in the competition was taken by the Czech studio ov architekti in combination with the Olgoj Chorchoj studio, and the third place was awarded to the Austrian office ZT GmbH – Studio Innsbruck. A total of 23 applicants entered the competition, and five made it to the finals, where they subsequently developed competition designs.

According to the jury, the design comprehensively integrates the cable car elements into the environment, which includes, among other things, the natural park Trojská kotlina. "The design gently enters this fascinating environment with compactly designed stations, whose roofs continuously change and respond to the immediate surroundings, as well as the design of simple pylons that elegantly integrate all necessary technical infrastructure within a single form," the authors commented on their work.

The jury was chaired by Dutch architect Arjan Dingste, with German designer Christiane Bausback and Czech experts designer Henrieta Nezpěváková, architect Patrik Kotas, and architect Ivan Němec also serving on it. Representatives of the city and the affected city districts were also part of the jury.

The cable car aims to provide the missing direct connection between Prague 8 and Prague 6 until the planned tram line with a new bridge in Troja is constructed. The city plans stations at Podbaba, Troja, and Bohnice along the more than two-kilometer track. It is expected to be able to transport up to 2300 people per hour. The estimated construction costs are, according to earlier information, two billion crowns.