The development group of billionaire Luďek Sekyra has already almost completed the first residential stage of the new construction on the former railway brownfield. To the south of the apartment buildings, the second stage begins in the vicinity of the Smíchov railway station, which will be the most extensive of all four phases of the project.
"The construction of Smíchov City South is starting, the dominant feature of which will be the headquarters of Česká spořitelna, which will be followed by a set of administrative buildings," described the project by Luděk Sekyra, according to whom the key element of this part is a pedestrian corridor with shops and cafes. "The symbolic culmination of the almost kilometer-long Madeleine Albright pedestrian avenue will be a new transport terminal including a hotel, a revitalized train station and a parking garage for the public. The total investment in this phase of the project will reach 30 billion crowns," he added.
The extensive campus of Česká spořitelna will consist of four buildings, between which a pedestrian boulevard will lead. The headquarters will also include a multifunctional auditorium for 380 people, which is to become a new cultural center. The auditorium is connected by an outdoor tribune with a stage for 150 spectators, which the developer calls the Spanish Steps. A Financial Education Center for students and seniors will also grow within the campus of the savings bank. In addition, there will be a forest nursery and apiaries.
The second stage of Smíchov City will be an administrative district, part of which will be the Česká spořitelna campus, which will be crossed by Madeleine Albrightová pedestrian street.|Sekyra Group
"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," promises the general manager of the savings bank, Tomáš Salomon.
The campus was designed by the Austrian architectural studio Baumschlager Eberle Architekten together with Pavel Hnilička Architects+Planners. The construction will be carried out by a consortium of construction companies led by Strabag, according to which it is the largest construction of this type in the Czech Republic in the last few years. According to the builders, it will be especially difficult to strive for the greatest possible sustainability of the construction and operation of the campus. "The buildings will be heated and cooled through an active concrete core connected to geothermal wells, which we will build almost 40 kilometers here. During construction, we will also use concrete with a reduced carbon footprint," explained Martin Bašár for Strabag.
In the administrative part of Smíchov City, the developer will also build a covered market with the working name Smíchov Market, where residents and visitors could go to buy fruit, vegetables, meat or seafood. The developer is also counting on an accompanying cultural program here.
In addition to the former US Secretary of State and Smích native Madeleine Albright, after whom the pedestrian boulevard will be named, other new streets and parks will also bear the names of famous women. For example, the Arendt park with a natural amphitheater or the relaxation park of Alice and Anna Masaryk will be located here. Streets here will also be named after sociologist Jiřina Šiklová, art patron Meda Mládková or dissident Růžena Vacková.
At the end of this year, the developer wants to start the third phase of construction, which will be a continuation of the residential area in the north of the district. As part of this stage, more than thirty houses with eight hundred apartments will be built here. Parking should be provided by underground garages.
The fourth phase of construction will be adjacent to Radlická street and a public space should be created here. It will include the building of the Radlická cultural sports center, which the developer must preserve and which will become the centerpiece of the future square. The new neighborhood should be ready in 2032, twelve years after construction began. Up to twelve thousand people could work or live here.
The transformation of the Smíchov brownfield has the support of the Prague municipality, which communicates closely with the developer also regarding the construction of a transport terminal or an elementary school. "I believe that the transport terminal and the headquarters of Česká spořitelna will work well and create a lively city of short distances, where work, living and entertainment are in one place. And in the future, maybe even a high-speed train to Munich," said Deputy for Territorial Development Petr Hlaváček.
The second stage of Smíchov City will be an administrative district, part of which will be the Česká spořitelna campus, which will be crossed by Madeleine Albrightová pedestrian street.|Sekyra Group
