"Smíchov City is the largest urbanization in central Prague since the establishment of Vinohrady at the end of the 19th century. Twelve thousand people will live or work here, so I feel that this district will become a modern alternative to the historical center of our metropolis, a symbol of Prague in the 21st century," sums up the project, owner of Sekyra Group and the 39th richest Czech Luděk Sekyra.
In addition to apartments, offices, a hotel, shops and parks, Sekyra Group will also build, for example, a covered market, where people will be able to go shopping or sit down to eat or drink.
Nevertheless, it is difficult to concretely imagine how big the project is in the case of Smíchov City. We have therefore selected a few numbers that can hopefully better approximate the extent of this district.
50 billion
The total costs of the Smíchov City project, which is spread over twenty hectares of a former railway brownfield, will reach fifty billion crowns.
Of this, 35 billion are private investments, and another fifteen billion are from public sources, specifically from the budget of Prague and the Railway Administration. A modern transport terminal above the Smíchov station, a parking garage, schools and other infrastructure will be built behind them.
In addition, the city has already started the construction of the Dvorecký bridge at the southern end of the territory, which will connect Smíchov with Podolí. The billion-dollar construction is to be completed within the next year.
75 thousand square meters
The southern part of the project will be dominated by the new campus of Česká spořitelna, which was designed as part of an architectural competition by the renowned Austrian architectural studio Baumschlager Eberle Architekten together with Pavel Hnilička Architects+Planners. It will consist of four buildings with an area of 75,000 square meters.
Česká spořitelna wants to design the entire campus as open and publicly accessible as much as possible. A public arcade with shops, a cafe and a restaurant connected to the main boulevard is to pass through it. There will also be an entrance to the multifunctional hall with a capacity of 380 people directly from the passage. And a multimedia Financial Education Center is also planned.
"In cooperation with representatives of the civic and cultural sphere, we want to fill the campus with programs 365 days a year. We will invest in professional dramaturgy - exhibitions, concerts, film and theater performances, workshops, children's days and sports events, which will ensure that the campus is not a dead administrative zone, but a living community center," said Tomáš Salomon, CEO of Česká spořitelna.
"The Česká spořitelna campus will undoubtedly be the project's administrative landmark and at the same time the symbolic outlet of Madeleine Albright's pedestrian boulevard. I am also happy that the bank will also be involved in the cultivation of the public space around this road, as well as related civic and artistic activities," adds Luděk Sekyra.
1 kilometer
The aforementioned pedestrian boulevard, named after Smíchov native Madeleine Albright, will form a kilometer-long main artery of the entire district. The boulevard will connect Smíchovské nádraží and Na Knížecí bus station and will also cross the buildings of the Česká spořitelna campus.
The name of the boulevard comes from the Sekyra Group's proposal to name streets and public spaces after prominent women of the 20th century. The adjacent park with a natural amphitheater will be named after the philosopher Hannah Arendt, the second park will be Alice and Anna Masaryk park, and the streets of sociologist and publicist Jiřina Šiklová, art patron Meda Mládková and dissident Růžena Vacková will also be created.
2032
The construction of Smíchov City began in 2020. And the year 2032 so far marks the moment when the entire district could be completely finished. However, the project could approach its final form sometime in 2027 and 2028. According to Sekyra Group executive director Leoš Anderle, three main stages should be completed by that time, and only the last stage adjacent to Radlická Street will remain.
As part of the fourth stage, a new square will be created along Radlická Street, which will include, among other things, the building of the Radlická Cultural Sports Center. "Sometime at the end of 2027, we should already have houses around the entire pedestrian boulevard, so it won't be a road in the middle of the plain, but a real city street. And all the infrastructure and public spaces should also be ready," describes Anderle.
12 thousand people
The number of people who will live or work in Smíchov City after the completion of the district is expected to reach approximately twelve thousand. And this is thanks to almost 400,000 square meters of residential, administrative, commercial and public areas that will be created as part of the project.
Along with the works on the southern stage, the investor is also preparing the continuation of the construction of the northern part. The third phase of construction should begin at the turn of this year and at the turn of next year and consists of three residential blocks between Nádražní Street, Madeleine Albrightová Street and Vacková Street, which will follow on from the already standing first stage.
The blocks of the third stage will consist of a total of 31 separate houses, in which approximately 800 apartments will be created for more than two thousand people.
