Who is behind the project?

The revitalization project of the Masaryk Station area is being prepared by Penta Real Estate in cooperation with České dráhy (the Czech Railways) and Správa železnic (SŽ, the Railway Infrastructure Administration). After years of efforts, we have been able to maintain the function of the most central railway station in Prague, to carry out its reconstruction and, in several phases and parallelly, to recultivate its decades-long-unused brownfield on the adjacent railway plot. Based on the architectural and urban planning competition, the project designed by Zaha Hadid Architects was chosen for the revitalization of the Masaryk Station.

Penta Real Estate

The main initiator and investor of the Masaryk Station area revitalization is the company Masaryk Station Development, whose majority owner is Penta Real Estate a.s. The latter is a part of the Penta Group and focuses on the revitalization of brownfields as well as real estate development in the housing, office and retail segments.

Správa železniční dopravní cesty

Správa železnic (SŽ, the Railway Infrastructure Administration) is a state organization, whose primary mission is to act as owner and operator of national and regional railways owned by the state. SŽ is the investor of the planned reconstruction of the Masaryk Station railroads, the construction of new platforms, barrier-free access and a new vestibule in the form of roofing over individual platforms and, last but not least, the modernization and construction of the railway line from the Masaryk Station to the Václav Havel Airport and Kladno.

The national carrier České dráhy, a. s. (the Czech Railways), is the owner of the complex of the Masaryk Station buildings, a registered immovable cultural monument. Czech Railways co-operates with the company Masaryk Station Retail, a.s., the tenant of the Masaryk Station, whose goal is a gradual revitalization of the Masaryk Station period buildings; this includes the replacement of commercial units, which is aimed at increasing their standard, the quality of the services offered and the comfort of the passengers.

GoFlorenc

The GoFlorenc Initiative was established thanks to the initiative of property owners, tenants of shops and restaurants in Na Poříčí Street. Its aim is to revitalize Na Poříčí Street and make it a lively city street with regulated automobile traffic and quality public space. Together with the revitalization project of Masaryk Station and its surroundings GoFlorenc can contribute to a significant transformation of this part of Prague 1.

SUDOP Praha a.s.

SUDOP Praha a.s. is a project office that is involved in the preparation of the project of revitalization of the historic buildings of Masaryk Station. Reconstruction of the classicist railway station building started in 2012. At the same time they provide project and engineering activity for the modernization and completion of the railway station and New Connection Prague for SŽDC s.o.

Architects

Zaha Hadid Architects

In 2014, the investor organized an architectural and urban planning competition for the revitalization plan of the Masaryk Station area. Among the 12 contestants, the plan prepared by Zaha Hadid Architects ranked first. Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) is an international architectural and design studio based in London, founded in 1980 by Zaha Hadid, an architect of Iraqi origin. In 1990, architect Patrik Schumacher became the ZHA director. Since the death of Zaha Hadid in April 2016, he has been managing the studio as the only partner.

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Zaha Hadid Jakub Klaška Vitra Fire Station, Weil am Rhein, Germany, 1991/93 Bergisel Ski Jump, Innsbruck, Austria 1999 / 2002

Zaha Hadid, nicknamed "the Queen of Curve" and "the Magician of Zigzag and Flower Forms", is one of the leading figures of the world´s postmodern architecture. Her work is classified as an example of deconstructivist architecture, an approach characterized by irregularities of shapes and unpredictability, which often denies the traditional elements of architecture. However, her designs are always based on a local context. The mission of the studio is to cultivate and strengthen the identity of the place and the bond of the residents and other users with it, by using locally typical elements and creating a unique architectural design. The façade of the Prague project near the Masaryk Station is inspired by the rails and the golden colour characteristic of Prague´s towers.

Zaha Hadid was the author of many public buildings. The realization of a fire department house for the Vitra factory in Weil am Rhein, Germany (1993) brought her the first recognition. For Austrian Innsbruck she designed the Bergisel ramp for ski jumpers (2002), and for the Olympics in 2012 she created the London Centre for Swimming Sports. Her studio designed many world museums, such as the Cincinnati Center for Contemporary Art (2000) or the Riverside Museum in Glasgow (2011). She also created designs for administrative and commercial buildings, such as the BMW office in Leipzig (2005), the Hong Kong Innovation Tower (2013), the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul (2011) or the headquarters of the Port Authority in Antwerp (2016).

In 2004, Zaha Hadid became the first woman to win the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize. In 2010 and 2011, she was honoured by the Stirling Award, the UK's most prestigious award, for the design of the MAXXI Contemporary Art Museum in Rome and the Evelyn Grace Secondary School in London.

In the Zaha Hadid Architects studio, the architect of Czech origin Jakub Klaška is in charge of the revitalization project of the Masaryk Station area. He studied architecture first in Prague at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design, with Eva Jiřičná, and then in the Zaha Hadid Studio at the Academy of Applied Arts in Vienna. For Zaha Hadid Architects, he has worked since 2010 on a variety of projects such as the International Center of Culture and Art in Changsha, China, the 520 West 28th residential project in New York, and the winning design of the first fully-wooden football stadium for the Forest Green Rovers Club in England.

Jakub Cigler Architekti

The Jakub Cigler Architecti studio is a local partner of ZHA, which cooperates on the Zaha Hadid Architects urban and architectural concept in all other stages of project documentation. Having assumed the position of the general designer of the project, it guarantees the technical aspect of the project documentation.

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Jakub Cigler Florentinum Florentinum The Park

The Jakub Cigler Architekti (JCA) studio was founded in 2001 and is now one of the biggest Czech architectural studios. It specializes in the architecture of office and multifunctional buildings, such as the Quadrio multifunctional building (2014) over the Národní třída metro station, the Florentinum office-retail building (2013), and the recently (2017) completed Visionary office building in Prague's district of Holešovice.

JCA urban projects are highly valued too. Its revitalization of Moskevská Street in Prague 10 became an example of public space restoration. JCA is also the author of the revitalization project of the lower part of Wenceslas Square, the execution of which is being prepared.

The studio was founded and it is managed by architect Jakub Cigler. He is a graduate of architecture at the Faculty of Architecture of ČVUT in Prague (Czech Technical University, CTU) and in 1993 he reached the position of a lecturer at the University of Applied Arts. Since 1993 he has been an authorized architect of the Czech Chamber of Architects and since 1996 a member of the European branch of The American Institute of Architects.

TaK architects

The TaK Architects architectural and engineering office has prepared a project for the reconstruction of the historic buildings of Masaryk Station. The office represented by architect Marek Tichý covers the overall concept of architectural approach to the reconstruction of this immovable cultural monument.

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TaK office deals with the completion of historic buildings and designs of residential and public buildings. Over 17 years of the office work under the leadership of architect Marek Tichý more than 60 projects related to historical architecture have been realized.
The architectural studio deals with the theme of the context of contemporary and historical architecture combining modern technologies and materials with traditional procedures. They designed the Václav Havel Library (2013), the reconstruction of the Theater Na Zábradlí (2017), the Werich Villa (2016) and the Škoda Palace (2006). Two studio projects were awarded in the Building of the Year competition - reconstruction of the Volmann Villa in Čelákovice (2016) and reconstruction of the Pacht Palace and Jirásek House in Prague (2005).

Schindler Seko architects

International Studio Schindler Seko Architects is the author of the architectural design of the hotel building in Hybernská Street. Building the land at the intersection „u Bulhara“ completes the northern edge of the street and allows passage to the platform above the yard. A sensitive approach to the context of the site and the interconnection of buildings with public spaces are typical features of the studio.

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The architectural office is dedicated to the design of administrative and residential buildings. Schindler Seko Architects designed a number of apartment buildings or residential complexes realized mainly in Prague and its surrounding.

Their portfolio includes, for example, the conversion of an office building to a student dormitory (2013) in Vršovice, Prague, or a residential complex in Střešovice (2016), which was included in the Czech Architecture 2015–2016 yearbook. Sacre Coeur 2 Residence (2018) became the only Czech development project to become a finalist in the international real estate competition MIPIM AWARDS 2017. The studio is also responsible for the reconstruction of the former transformer station in Klarov where Kunsthalle Prague is arising as a center of modern and contemporary art.