The just-finished building with lofts has crowned one of the few successfully-completed revitalisations of a brownfield within Prague - the transformation of the former Holešovice brewery.
The reconstruction of the historical brewery fermentation building was the last stage of the A7 Holešovice Brewery project, which the ING Real Estate development company has been implementing since 2006.
Prague´s Holešovice district
The transformation of the entire area successfully combined the reconstruction of the original listed buildings and the construction of several new office and residential buildings. The architectural design is the work of the renowned studio CMC architects.
The world-famous architects Frank O. Gehry, the designer of the Dancing House, and Jean Nouvel, the designer of Zlatý Anděl, also cooperated on the preparation of the project. "It was a very good and interesting experience, where we could see the work of world-class architects up close," Vít Máslo from CMC architects commented.
The goal of architects David Chisolm and Vít Máslo was to make maximum use of the historical genius loci and the uncommonness of the site and the original buildings and sensitively supplement them with modern buildings that would be optimally incorporated into the buildings of Prague´s Holešovice district.
"I consider the former brewery, comprised of purely utilitarian buildings, to be an artistically unique complex with excellent structural details.
Therefore we preserved the original character of the buildings during the revitalisation and only removed the later additions that went up over the course of the century. With their removal the existing buildings could stand out more.
We believe that we have managed to preserve the overall expression of the buildings, revive the functionality of the complex and return it thus to life," architect Vít Máslo said of the project.
"We have managed to create a space that breathes a historical industrial atmosphere and meanwhile it is possible to enjoy modern life and work, at a 21st century tempo. The comprehensiveness of the entire complex has also enabled us to use diverse architectural approaches.
With the original buildings it was interesting to think about how to put the new functions into the historical buildings. For the new buildings we were attracted, for example, to the creation of the 17-storey dominant feature of the complex."
The individual buildings mainly surround a central courtyard, which will be complemented with a fountain in the near future. The office spaces have been leased out and the complex has a drugstore and a supermarket as well.
The newly-built Rezidence and Plaza (which includes the Tower) residential buildings with a total of 115 flats are already fully serving their owners. Forty flats have gone up in the last Lofts building.
In addition to 14 standard flats in the roof extension and 6 attic flats with visible rafters and metal joining beams, the 20 original lofts, which offer untraditional, original living spaces in an industrial spirit, attract the main attention.
What you can find there
There are six loft flats with areas of from 76 m2 to 88 m2 and with their original cast-iron columns preserved on two floors in the south wing of the building.
The other (south) wing has been given over to 7 two-floor lofts with an atrium and balcony and with an average area of 135 m2 and to 7 lofts that also have an expansive roof terrace with an area of about 132 m2 on a third floor.
The first floor of each loft has an entry hall, a study, a large living area with a kitchenette, balcony, storage space, closet, bathroom and toilet. A gallery is accessible by a spiral staircase and an open bedroom is located here.
The high glass walls, a typical loft feature, offer a view of either the inner courtyard or the quiet adjacent streets, according to the orientation of the flat.
These 14 loft flats have been realised in the original part of the fermentation building, where the lager cellars were formerly located. They are units with open layouts, enclosed on two sides by a glass wall in an aluminium frame which separates the private atrium from the central connecting hallway.
"The work with the lighting was very interesting in the lofts. The deep disposition of the building made access to daylight impossible from two sides of the building as is usual for blocks of flats. Thus we had to create atria inside the building, which enabled light to penetrate and also gave the flats an original entrance with a patio," Vít Máslo described the work on the lofts.
"When designing the lofts we could make use of the rich knowledge of my colleague David Chisholm. He had earlier experience with living spaces of this kind."
Loft living
Those who are interested can get introduced to original loft living when viewing a show loft. Even though the lofts will be offered with the minimum for the approval process so that their owners can complete them individually in whichever way they desire, the show loft has a fully furnished interior to give a better picture.
The author of the interior design is the architect Evžen Dub, also from the CMC architects studio. The interior fittings have been chosen in the same spirit as the entire loft " i.e. they are interesting, original and of a high quality.
The kitchen unit, bedroom furnishings and bar stools are from the Berloni workshop of Italian furniture. Further fittings and furniture are from the company Vitra, which has been involved in the sale of furniture from world-renowned designers for dozens of years: lights from the Italian manufacturer Inside and Pioneer electronics were delivered by BaSys.
The entire housing unit is realised in an above-standard fashion. Oak parquet tiles were laid on the floor in the living room and in the hall while teak wood was used in the bathroom, toilet, closet and storage space.
The Bolon Now brand of coal-black woven PVC was chosen as a modern material for the study, while staying in the bedroom is made more pleasant by the Belakos Jersey carpeting on the floor.
The bathroom and toilet are decorated with white glossy tiles with a flower motive from Villeroy & Boch, the sanitary ware and taps come from the manufacturers Laufen, Kaldewei and Grohe. One wall in the bedroom was accentuated with green and silver Flair wallpaper.
The entry patio is designed in a Japanese style, with outdoor seating from Donate.
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