Seven Symbolic Levels for Praha 7

It has been 135 years since the municipality of Holešovice-Bubny joined Prague, thereby becoming a rightful city district. During this relatively long period, the newly established Prague 7 office went through several provisional seats and sought a way to change. The right vision materialized only in early March 2020 when Prague 7 Mayor Jan Čižinský officially opened the new representative town hall to the public.

The reconstruction of the strikingly cascade-shaped building – now clad in strips of exposed brick – was accompanied by lengthy political discussions. Since 1993, the town hall had been located in rented premises of the General Financial Directorate building on Captain Jaroš Embankment in Prague. Prior to that, there were several other locations in a now non-existent building on Železničářů Street, in the Electrical Enterprises building, or in the long-gone Dřevák, where today's OC Stromovka is located.

After long periods of provisional arrangements, it seemed logical that the town hall would strive to purchase a plot of land for construction or a whole building so that it could finally and permanently move into its own property. Several plans were created, and for their individual assessments, 14.5 million crowns were gradually paid out. The plan to buy the administrative building ArtGen – located at the intersection of Argentinská and Jateční streets – came closest to realization, which was estimated to cost 1.6 billion crowns. This triggered a wave of discontent, particularly among citizens, and the town hall was petitioned to call a referendum for a less expensive town hall.

The referendum held in January 2013 decided to limit the budget for acquiring the town hall building to 500 million crowns. A new coalition announced a public competition in October 2015 for purchasing a suitable office building and decided to buy the building at U Průhonu 38 in November of the same year. In February of the following year, an open international architectural competition was announced for the reconstruction of the building. Approximately 70 architectural studios from 18 countries worldwide, including Japan and the Netherlands, participated.

The winner was a studio located practically around the corner, Atelier bod architekti. In April 2017, the building permit was issued, the contractor (the Geosan/Metrostav association) was selected in September, and construction began in November 2016. It ultimately lasted just a little over two years, with occupancy taking place in January 2020.

The whole realization was managed in a relatively short time, especially considering that it was a complete reconstruction. Only the skeleton of the original building remained, with significant changes made to the bracing structure. "We bought the building knowing that the technologies from the early nineties are outdated, both operationally and morally, and that the demands for building energy efficiency have significantly tightened," adds Pavel Zelenka, Deputy Mayor of Prague 7, who oversaw the new town hall project.

It seems that the architects have "sensed" the atmosphere of Holešovice. They managed to embed typical elements of the industrial district, which has an anchor in its emblem, throughout the entire building. "From the roof terrace, you can see how many brick chimneys surround us. Of course, we studied their color and based ourselves on it," describes architect Vojtěch Sosna, one of the building's authors. However, the bricks forming the facade of the town hall were only found in Italy after they were unable to find a suitable domestic supplier. A minor complication arose with the slanted sills, into which the windows are set at a relatively great depth. The Italian ceramics manufacturer had to produce special shaped bricks for the Prague project, leaving a trace of handcrafted work upon closer inspection. The dominating feature at the highest point of the facade facing the street is the clock, the intricate mechanism of which can be seen from the roof terrace. Its realization was entrusted to the family-run clockmaker Ludwig Heinz, located nearby on Tusarova Street, which has been caring for hundreds of tower clocks throughout the republic for seven generations, including the recently reconstructed Water Tower on Letná.

The interior is dominated by cement plaster, light wood, and colorful floors on each level with a logically chosen combination of blue-yellow-red. One of the shortcomings of the previous administrative headquarters was the long corridors. These have been replaced here with a central communication core, which has a bracing function and is accessible from a generously elevated hall dominated by a new, sculpturally shaped spiral staircase. "The whole hall actually came about because of that staircase," adds architect Sosna with a hint of humor and a smile. The hall and the first floor offer counters for handling the most common civic matters. The typical floor houses individual offices and meeting rooms. And from the corridor, another feature typical of the new building is visible: round glass windows reminiscent of a ship's cabin as a reminder of the Holešovice river port.

That transparency is a much-repeated word here. Both in the figurative sense, as one of the governing coalition's priorities, and in the purely practical sense: with a certain amount of courage, a visitor can check whether their sought-after official is at their desk. This seemingly trivial detail is also praised by Deputy Mayor Pavel Zelenka: "In the four days since we moved, I've met more colleagues than during my whole tenure at the old town hall. I believe this whole atmosphere will also translate into our relationship with the citizens." Another new positive aspect is highlighted with a smile by Radomír Špok, secretary of the Prague 7 district office: "In the old building, we were practically on one large floor. Here we are forced to constantly run up and down the stairs, which I believe will prove to be very positively impactful for all of us over time. The building is a great meeting place, serving the local community."

The total amount for which the town hall was acquired is 362 million crowns excluding VAT. Deputy Mayor Zelenka adds regarding the budget: "We acquired one square meter of the building with complete equipment for seventy-six thousand crowns including VAT, and the additional works did not exceed more than ten percent, which are numbers that in my opinion can withstand strict criteria when compared to the realizations of administrative buildings in the private sector in the area." According to Senator Václav Hampl, the new town hall is a manifestation of hope. "In the Senate, I regularly encounter a certain feeling of hopelessness, that things aren’t moving and that they take too long. This building is an example that it doesn't always have to be that way." Whether the investment in Prague 7 was worthwhile will hopefully be proven only by time and full utilization of the building.

Questions for Vojtěch Sosna (Atelier bod architekti) What was successful about the new town hall in Prague 7? The building as a whole. We are pleased with the entrance hall. In a building that is not very large itself, we managed to achieve a generous entry space. Reconstruction is always significantly more challenging than new construction. The fact that the building was stripped down to its skeleton was a necessity. The skeleton was built rather carelessly and was unreasonably irregular. Dealing with it was an important task. How much did your vision, which you had in mind after submitting the competition, differ from the completed building? It doesn’t differ much. The building closely resembles the original vision, which we are glad about. We tried to actively participate in the whole construction and oversee everything. Did you encounter any major problems during the realization? One problem is simply that we are in the flood zone of a hundred-year flood. The first underground floor contains a hall, whose floor consists of the original reinforced concrete slab, which was buried under rubble, and above it was another concrete floor. We allowed all of this to be excavated, and after further calculations, we found that the slab would not withstand another hundred-year flood. So, we had to realize tensile micropiles in these areas. The overall waterproofing of this building was a big question that we had to address. Another problem arose when it turned out that the whole building has a slightly different structural scheme than we had assumed. We removed all bracing walls in the original skeleton, which were inappropriately placed according to the new design, and we built new ones. What did you learn from the project of the new town hall for Prague 7? To be firm in communication with others and not to yield.