One of the last buildings bearing the signature of Zaha Hadid is a mixed use workplace sitting alongside Prague’s oldest railway station, and inspired by the historic ‘golden city’ and the dynamism of rail travel
“Masaryčka can without exaggeration be described as the most modern and ground-breaking office building in the Czech Republic.” That’s the claim of Penta Real Estate, the private equity investor client behind this bold project in the heart of Prague, known as the ‘golden city.’ The firm’s new Zaha Hadid Architects-designed HQ in an unloved part of the historic city, represents an unabashed statement of the firm’s prominence in Central and Eastern Europe, in this case turning brownfield into gold.
Completing the puzzle of this new central business district, Czech Railways’ renovation of the adjacent Masaryk railway station by Penta Real Estate and Czech Railways will bring further urban renewal to this part of the city. However, the new golden office and retail building, framed by the station’s rail platforms to the south, a street to the north, and an elevated freeway to the east, is the star of the show. Penta Real Estate has occupied one of the buildings with its sister company, the major private equity investor Penta Investments (as well as several other office tenants). The project represents an investment worth €100m (CZK 2.5bn), predicated on serving increasing demand for workspace in Prague.
The design maximises the brownfield site that stood abandoned for decades adjacent to the station, and replaces a car park with a new public square with interchanges between the city’s rail, tram, and bus networks. This helps to provide a new, welcoming gateway to the city for rail passengers coming in from the suburbs, as well as those connecting to the international airport using the express rail link currently being built.
Both Penta Real Estate and Penta Investments had already made architectural waves by creating its first Prague headquarters in 2013, in what was also its first large-scale completed office project – the Florentinum with a similar office and retail mix. Having relocated to the glowing new pair of buildings topped with roof terraces, the firms now occupy the two top floors of the larger of the two buildings, with the whole complex providing 28,000 m² in total, including copious food, beverage and retail offers in the first two levels.
The two buildings offer 2,500 m² and 2,200 m² of retail space respectively, and 14,300 m² office space in the taller of the two versus 7,900 m² in the other. The continued volume linking both buildings housing retail areas creates a new commercial ‘high street’ for the city.
Design
Located a kilometre east of the central Staroměstské Square, the highly contemporary form has been designed to “establish a dialogue with the architecture and urbanism of Prague’s Old Town,” which sits on the other side of the river to the west. Conceived by Zaha herself, the project was realised in collaboration with local practice Jakub Cigler Architekti as delivery architect. The long and relatively low structure has the kinetic, offset feel common to several of Zaha Hadid’s buildings when viewed in section, with dynamic elevations created by stepping back individual levels horizontally from east to west. The two volumes, connected by the ground level retail level and external circulation, step up from the east from seven storeys to nine respectively, deferring to surrounding building heights.
The renowned “golden city of 100 spires,” has a much-photographed skyline created by the preponderance of ornate pointed steeples and spires extending into the sky. The ribbed metal facade of the new building offers the practicality of summer shading to internal workspace along the elevations, alleviating cooling bills but sculpted to provide a major architectural presence. The facade’s ribs curve dramatically at 90° towards the pointed, taller western facade facing the Old Town’s spires, both responding to the historic skyline but also giving an abstract impression of railway tracks.
The fins splay to form a gently pointed offset ‘keel’ at the base of the west facade, lightly connecting the building to the ground visually, with the ground and first levels otherwise glazed for the retail and F&B units. The keel also extends into the building forming part of the entrance area’s ceiling. As the aluminium elements widen to the lower level the feeling of rails is transformed to the more substantial language of the timbers of a golden ship. Addressing the new square, the statement made by this elevation is appropriately striking.
There are roof gardens on the top two floors on each of the linked buildings, as well as a “cascade” of articulated terraces to each of the facades facing the gap between the two buildings, and further recessed terraces to the long long north facades facing the street, angled to align with the parallelogram forms. There’s similar terracing on the eastern facade, meaning every office floor has direct access to generous outdoor spaces.
Metal facade
The unique form with curving facades running beneath as well as on the the faces of the structure required a complex design to create a variety of elements which would unite to form the curving ‘keel,’ The most complicated sections reach sizes of up to 3 by 3 metres, and had to be shaped with millimetre precision – according to ZHA’s computerised 3D design. Leading Czech facade firm Sipral designed, supplied and installed elements for this complex project, and describes sections as being hung on bespoke metal “spiders,” which allow the “rectification” of the panels in all directions. This “achieves an uninterrupted joint across the entire underside of the facade.”
“The great complexity and variety of shapes, with many curves” meant a bespoke level of approach was acquired to “details and interconnections of different types of facade constructions,” says the firm. A large number of bespoke facade elements have been installed across the entire perimeter shell, which meant they were designed and manufactured as unique pieces. “This placed high demands not only for the design work, but also on the actual production, installation and our supply chain,” says Sipral.
Over 18,000 production and assembly drawings were created for the production of the keel panels, and the finished building has 265 pieces of unique aluminium panels, with around 30 tonnes of steel structure supporting the keel alone. The slats as well as irregular aluminium elements forming the facade were manufactured in gold but also contrasting anthracite.
Sustainability
Targeting LEED Platinum certification, Masaryčka incorporates a double-insulated facade that ensures optimal natural light in all work areas and communal spaces. Hybrid ventilation is supported by a high-efficiency plant with waste heat recovery systems while the building’s smart management systems continually monitor and adjust environmental controls to reduce energy consumption.
Construction and procurement has prioritised local suppliers and materials with a high recycled content, with a target to meet the 2025 targets for embodied and operational carbon established by the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge. Planting uses local species of plants, shrubs, and trees irrigated by a rainwater harvesting system, and the street running parallel has been transformed into a tree-lined avenue, bringing cooling summer shading for users. Low-flow systems and greywater recycling will further reduce the building’s water consumption.
The interiors offer a typically Zaha ‘space-age’ feel matching the dynamic exterior, but focusing less on metal materiality in the two lobbies, instead having organically-shaped glowing ceiling panels of Corian with integrated lighting. The whitish panels are contrasted by black surrounds and a black Barissol stretched ceiling, the composition extending into desks and walls. Corian is also used on the feature staircase, displaying the potential of the material to be designed and thermoformed into unusual three-dimensional shapes.
Connections & external spaces
Connections with the surrounding dense and historic urban environment are fundamental to the design approach – the building is “defined by circulation routes which will provide access to new civic spaces for the city,” say the architects. The new public square connecting the building to the railway station is partially constructed over the railway tracks, and the design enhances access to the railway platforms below with new routes, as well as providing new pedestrian routes on either side of the station.
The existing 1845-built terminus building refurbishment includes the construction of the new public square partially over the tracks, giving access to individual platforms and a direct transfer to Prague’s metro line. This is turning the station into a fully accessible, “multi-modal transport hub,” extending the number of rail tracks from seven to nine and seeing all platforms reconstructed. There will also be pedestrian access to the train platforms via the gap in the centre of the new buildings.
The elevated park above the railway station will significantly simplify the connection between the Prague 1, Prague 3 and Prague 8 districts. The roof gardens’ design “reflects the city’s flow of people between Na Florenci Street, Hybernská Street and the U Bulhara intersection,” say the architects, who have provided a beautiful, fully-landscaped public space. It combines pavements and piazzas with zones for relaxation and social use, and has “the comfort of people with different levels of mobility in mind.”
A hotel currently under construction on the busy intersection to the south east corner of the site, on the far side of the railway line, will be connected to Masaryčka via a new covered, landscaped route above the tracks, providing a further important new access across the site.
Conclusion
This is one of the last projects which Zaha Hadid herself worked on, and will be the flagship for a client who is keen to celebrate the personal involvement of the now-legendary architect. The two buildings-in-one, running alongside the railway lines, are a major new addition in a city famous for architecture of yesteryear, and a brave new image for many arriving by train.
The new mixed use Masaryka building is well on the way to its full completion in 2026, and already has a series of commercial tenants for its workspaces in addition to the client itself. Cafes and other retail units are bringing activity and further connection to the street level, enhancing the buzz already present from the station’s pedestrian traffic. This mix, with the golden backdrop and new public realm, ensures that the new addition is playing a full part in the life of the historic city.