Urban block near the Nové Dvory metro station – PROJECT 5

We are designing housing for a future, vibrant part of the city. A place that embraces the energy and potential of lively urban spaces, while also offering the intimacy and quiet of sheltered courtyards. Lively streets. Quiet courtyards. Always beneath the shade of trees. Low-rise blocks and slender towers create a balanced urban composition. The result is a clear and legible cityscape in which buildings combine an active ground floor with the essential body of residential life above. The façades build on a familiar architectural archetype, while enriching it with a generous layer of functional elements—loggias, balconies, and shading devices. These elements introduce articulation, rhythm, texture, depth, and detail to the buildings. At the same time, they reveal the life of their inhabitants, allowing the everyday life of the people who live here to become part of the architecture itself.

The jury awards First Prize to Proposal No. 4—the proposal best fulfills all four qualitative criteria established by the competition conditions. 1. Economic Appropriateness of the Proposal in Terms of Capital and Operating Costs Appropriate to the nature of an affordable housing project and a public client, the architecture is simple and restrained. 2. Degree to Which the Proposal Meets the Client’s Brief The apartment layouts are of a high quality while meeting the required apartment mix and area standards. The block is conceived as a coherent yet not monotonous whole, with an appropriate height and scale. It clearly expresses its residential character while creating a high-quality garden courtyard. 3. Architectural Quality of the Competition Proposal Appropriate to the significance of urban and public housing, the shaping of the block’s massing creates a range of specific conditions—corners, towers, private gardens, views, depth and proximity, and other variations—for the placement of apartments. These conditions establish an attractive residential environment and a strong sense of place. The architecture is multilayered and sculptural, both as a whole and in its details. Through its form, it creates an atmosphere of high-quality living while establishing a meaningful relationship with the neighboring housing estate and the future center of the surrounding neighborhood. 4. Technical Quality of the Structural Design of the Competition Proposal The technical quality of the structural design is appropriate to the overall concept of the proposal.

The proposal for the new urban block at Nové Dvory presents a cohesive vision for contemporary urban living, built around a dialogue between private, semi-public, and public space. The fundamental principle of the urban design is porosity and permeability. Rather than turning inward, the block opens naturally and generously toward all of the surrounding streets. This creates continuous visual connections and easy physical movement between the active street life and the calm inner courtyard. The active ground floor forms the solid yet lively base of the entire composition. It accommodates a rich mix of civic amenities, retail, and services, bringing energy and activity to the neighborhood throughout the day. The ground floor is the most dynamic element of the proposal, acting as a natural interface where the world of future residents meets the everyday life of the city. In contrast to the lively streets, the courtyard is conceived as a quiet green oasis. Its spaces are carefully graduated, transitioning from more active arrival zones around the building entrances to an inner urban woodland—a more intimate refuge for rest and uninterrupted recreation. The character of the block in long-distance views is defined by its prominent corner towers. They become clear landmarks within the urban landscape, providing orientation while responding sensitively to the context and scale of the surrounding city. The architectural language and overall morphology of the buildings emerge directly from the diverse typological organization of the apartments. A variety of layouts responds to the needs of a broad spectrum of future residents. This functional diversity informs the scale of the buildings, the sculptural articulation of the façades, and the distinctive roofscape. Each building consequently develops its own architectural expression and identity. The result is a lively, open, and sustainable urban structure that naturally integrates community life into the emerging neighborhood of Nové Dvory.

The jury awards Second Prize to Proposal No. 5. The proposal demonstrates a high level of architectural quality, convincing massing, and a highly refined architectural expression. However, its apartment layouts do not achieve the same degree of overall balance as the winning proposal. 1. Economic Appropriateness of the Proposal in Terms of Capital and Operating Costs The proposal is based on a rational structural framework and repeatable principles. The more articulated massing and façades, together with the number of terraces, access galleries, and bespoke details, may, however, increase both the capital cost of construction and the demands of subsequent maintenance. 2. Degree to Which the Proposal Meets the Client’s Brief The proposal offers a diverse range of housing typologies and works effectively with different forms of residential space. A weaker aspect, however, is the layout of some of the apartments. In particular, the very narrow floor plans present spatial and functional challenges, diminishing the otherwise high quality of the proposal. 3. Architectural Quality of the Competition Proposal The lightness of the structural grid, carefully designed façades, and convincing materiality create a distinctive architectural identity. The varied and playful treatment of the building massing retains an overall sense of coherence, while the dynamic vertical articulation remains harmonious. The southeastern corner responds particularly well to the alignment of the tram corridor. Another exceptionally successful element is the generous exterior stairways and access galleries, which contribute to the residential character of the courtyard. The proposal itself is founded on the principles of block porosity, an active ground floor, a green courtyard, and prominent corner elements. 4. Technical Quality of the Structural Design of the Competition Proposal The technical solution is consistent with the architectural concept and is based on standard, proven, and readily constructible structural principles.

The fundamental urban strategy for Nové Dvory follows the prescribed planning study closely. The primary ambition of the proposal is to introduce a new quality to the neighborhood through maximum permeability, a sensitive approach to the human scale, and the creation of a residential environment that naturally combines a high quality of life with economic accessibility. At the heart of the proposal is the integration of a carefully considered urban structure with highly functional apartment layouts. This approach creates a complete and meaningful environment for everyday life—one that is economically rational while remaining adaptable and sustainable over the long term. We see the greatest strengths of the concept in two complementary dimensions. At the level of urban design and livability, the proposal transforms the traditional enclosed block into an open block, selectively interrupted to create connections through the urban fabric. The resulting articulation and subdivision of the building mass creates a permeable and diverse spatial structure that effectively breaks down the otherwise large scale of the development. Instead of a monotonous perimeter block, the proposal offers a rich spatial experience, engaging views through the site, and a sequence of high-quality places for people to gather and spend time—actively fostering community life. The second dimension is the operational and spatial quality of the apartments. The internal organization of each unit places emphasis on everyday comfort, clear and logical relationships between spaces, and a high degree of flexibility, allowing the apartments to adapt to the changing needs of their residents over time.

The jury awards Third Prize to Proposal No. 7. It recognizes the proposal’s high level of architectural quality, interesting massing composition, and highly convincing approach to phasing. The principal reservations concern the degree of permeability of the block and the ambiguous relationship between the courtyard spaces and the surrounding public realm. 1. Economic Appropriateness of the Proposal in Terms of Capital and Operating Costs The proposal offers a rational phasing strategy, one of the most convincing among the competition entries, creating strong conditions for the gradual implementation of the project. The proposal is based on a rational structural framework and repeatable principles. 2. Degree to Which the Proposal Meets the Client’s Brief The apartment layouts are of a high quality and offer an interesting range of spatial conditions. The subdivision of the block allows many apartments to have dual or multiple orientations. The required apartment mix is maintained. In relation to the brief, however, the proposal is less convincing in certain respects in its interpretation of the regulatory framework established by the adopted planning study. 3. Architectural Quality of the Competition Proposal The proposal presents an interesting massing composition accompanied by an relatively restrained yet high-quality and highly legible architectural language. The division of the development into individual buildings contributes to a more residential scale. The jury appreciates the emphasis on pedestrian permeability and the creation of a calmer courtyard environment. In places, however, the degree of openness weakens the coherence of the urban block, which the jury considers problematic given the site’s position at a highly traffic-exposed urban corner. The hierarchy of public, semi-public, and semi-private spaces intended by the authors does not translate clearly enough into the design; the courtyard spaces and adjacent public areas overlap without a sufficiently convincing distinction in their character. The proposal is therefore more convincing at the scale of the individual buildings and their residential atmosphere than in the relationship of the development as a whole to the surrounding urban structure and the context of the site. 4. Technical Quality of the Structural Design of the Competition Proposal The cast-in-place reinforced-concrete wall-and-slab system provides a rational structural framework consistent with the overall concept of the proposal. The declared structural simplicity must, however, also be considered in relation to the cantilevered and vertically offset building volumes, which may increase the demands placed on the load-bearing structures and construction details.