Urban Concept
A basic urban form of the building stems from the strong urban concept of River City Complex designed in late nineties. The original city block, which was in a form of a fully enclosed rectangle, is now changed to an open U-shape and offers unique views to the river and to the nothern terraces of Prague. Upper levels of the southern wing receive sunshine from the south side and offer beautiful views to green hill Vítkov.
Architectural Concept
The building is composed of two wings perpendicular to the river and a southern wing placed along Rohanské Nábřeží street. The south wing is designed as a simple solid volume with flat facades whose task is to be a 'partner' to large and monumental office buildings of the River City complex. It is clad in sandstone. Its facade is an abstract composition of glazed planes of varying size, horizontal fragments of cornices, large shopfront of ground floor showroom and showroom entry canopy placed on the central axis of this facade. The southern facade is perceived by developers and architects as crucial in terms of presentation of the buildning to the city.
Whilst the south wing is a piece of monumental city architecture, the two other wings are more residential in nature. The two wings perpendicular to the river are richer in form and articulation. Architects used the motif of stepped back upper floors, rhythm of repeated large multistorey bay windows and extensive balconies for reaching a suitable residential scale. Facades of these wings are articulated vertically as well as horizontally.
The basic vertical division is based on the principle of stepped back of various parts of the upper three floors and its cladding in patinated copper(Tecu).
Horizontal division is designed as an assembly of varying facade layers with a critical role played by repeated large bay windows several floor levels high. Further horizontal division is reached by inserting slender and dramatic gaps in the facade of upper floors, which echo location of penthouse forms.
Functional Concept
Ground floor : commercial area and apartments
2- 7th FLOOR : apartments
1,2nd Basement : underground parking
Ground floor perimeter is dedicated to retail. Shops and cafes are accessible from pedestrian zone on the east, west and northern side. Landscaping of the pedestrian zone is a part of landscape design set for the whole complex River City. Two main entry points for the residents are accessed from adjacent pedestrian zone which itself is connected to surrounding parks and and Štvanice island via pedestrian bridge.
The southern side of upper and lower ground is dedicated to the main retail space – a showroom. The main entry from the south is located on the facade axis and is emphasised by a double storey internal cross nave space some 8m high. This space visually connects Rohanské nábřeží street and the courtyard garden. Lower levels of double storey apartments are located around the garden courtyard perimeter with a direct access to the private front gardens separated from the common garden by a hedge fence
Access to the six vertical circulation cores with stairs and lifts are twofold. Pedestrians enter the building from the pedestrian zone via a reception. They pass through the courtyard garden space located on the roof of the underground parking and continue to enter one of the six vertical cores.
This circulation systém offers a good safety and privacy for the residents. The reception is controlled/manned 24hrs a day. Camera and alarm systems are monitored in the reception desk. Residents arriving by a car enter the particular vertical core directly from the underground parking.
The courtyard garden is separated from the surrounding pedestrian zone by large water pool on the northern open courtyard side. The public part of the garden is designed in a simple, japanese style as a combination of water pools, water can
