New centre for Zeleneč

The New Center of Zeleneč concept is built on a sensitive spatial arrangement, a clear hierarchy, and a thoughtful division of the former brownfield site of the old molding plant. In response to the broader context of Zeleneč, we aim to seamlessly integrate the design into the surrounding environment and the local character. The area is divided into three smaller, more intimate sections to enhance the human scale. Closest to the railway tracks and along the busy Čs. Armády Street, we position the new municipal office building with a plaza and complementary amenities. Along Zahradní Street, the residential development is organized into two courtyard clusters, each composed of four loosely arranged apartment buildings. A diagonal pedestrian pathway cuts across the site, connecting the railway stop with the new plaza and residential courtyards, and continuing toward the southern part of Zeleneč. Here, it links to the adjacent open landscape, already widely used by residents for recreation.

The jury recognized the proposal as the best response to the complex set of requirements and the site's context. The design preserved and sensitively developed the successful urban concept into the second phase of the competition, appropriately responding to the site's context, particularly the connection to the railway station. It provides natural and safe permeability throughout the area. It creates a well-balanced mix of hierarchized public spaces of various scales, proportions, forms, and degrees of intimacy and coziness. The jury also appreciated the way the proposal organizes the different functions of the assigned program within the site, ensuring logical interrelationships between them and strong connections to the public spaces and the broader settlement. In the second phase, the design team convincingly demonstrated the usability of the public spaces for social and cultural events. The jury finds the main public space (the plaza) opening toward Čs. Armády Street and the railway station are particularly beneficial, as they naturally integrate the new center into the fabric of the village and make it an inseparable part of it. The transportation design remains clear and logical, and the parking concept is well-balanced, meeting the client's capacity and operational functionality expectations. The jury praised the proposal’s simple yet persuasive architectural expression. Through archetypal forms, carefully chosen scales, and well-balanced proportions, the design responds strongly to the complex challenge of preserving the rural character within rapidly developing communities on the outskirts of the metropolis. In the second phase, the proposal convincingly demonstrated its ability to fulfill this ambitious concept. The layout solutions for the various program typologies, the modularity of the buildings, and the structural and material strategies are all of very high quality. The jury highly valued the detail and precision with which the design was further developed for the second phase. The jury also regarded the design team's greenery and water management approach as very successful. These aspects were thoroughly elaborated into a cohesive, convincing, and functional solution. Green spaces and vegetation organically enrich and help shape the public realm; the proposal preserves valuable elements of the original vegetation and sensitively integrates new plantings. Both public green areas and private gardens reinforce the identity of individual places and typologies. The sustainability principles are honored and developed across all levels—urban design, architecture, and landscape—working together in synergy. The proposal faithfully fulfills the required program while maintaining economic feasibility alongside the high quality it offers.

The new commercial and administrative center of Zeleneč consolidates all civic amenities into a single Municipal House building, which, together with the adjacent village green, opens toward the railway stop. The efficient use of the site creates space for a generous village green shaded by the canopies of newly planted trees. A series of new rental houses continues the character of the village's existing residential fabric by maintaining a low-rise scale and dividing the apartment units into multiple individual volumes, each roughly the size of a family home. The linear arrangement of the houses creates a spacious semi-public garden primarily serving the community.

The jury positively values the project's vision. The effort to find an authentic form for the new center and to reinterpret the concept of "rural character" through a contemporary lens is seen as particularly commendable. The proposal offers relevant responses to the development challenges and the needs of smaller municipalities near major urban centers undergoing significant evolutionary change. From the strong gesture of the first round, the proposal evolved into a well-developed concept in the second phase. The compact development approach provides freedom and generosity to the public spaces. The Municipal House "under one roof" is an efficient, clear, representative, economical, modern, transparent, and flexible adaptable concept over time. The row houses offer high-quality living and a very efficient parking solution. The jury, however, views negatively the excessive openness and lack of anchoring of the most important space—the plaza—and its unresolved relationship with the railway and the main road. The design reveals a lack of diversity in public spaces and places for community gatherings and events. The treatment of the ground floor (parterre) and landscaping is only schematic. The project lacks a presentation of the linear park, the design of the Municipal House's "rear" façades, and the appearance of the northern façades of the row houses. The generosity and scale of the main building, through its design and dimensions, express a multifunctional urban building. Together with the typology of the row development, it creates a strong and urban structure, which in some aspects is perceived by the municipality as overly dominant and inappropriate. Some areas, such as the passageways between the houses, are perceived as potentially unsafe spaces.

The proposal aspires not only to become the new center of Zeleneč but also to create a foundation for a functional and collaborative community of residents. The principles applied in the design reflect not only the economic and environmental pillars of sustainability but also strengthen the village atmosphere through elements inspired by traditional rural architecture and urbanism. Modern technologies and principles ensure the efficient use of renewable resources. The variety of functions provides a strong foundation for creating an active area throughout the day, week, and year.

The jury positively values the urban design of the proposal, particularly its division into two courtyards created by elongated buildings. The design successfully works with various spatial types, evoking the traditional structure of organically grown settlements. The authors convincingly demonstrate the potential of the public space, creating numerous high-quality areas with diverse atmospheres. The length of the residential building on the western side was slightly modified compared to the first round, and the subtlety of the roof dormer on the town hall disappeared from the design. Although these are minor changes, they weaken the original strong and simple urban concept. The functional layout of the spaces is not entirely ideal, and some areas significantly deviate from the brief's requirements. While the floor plans are more developed than in the first round, they still appear unconvincing, featuring an excessive number of corridors, leftover spaces, and atypical attic apartments. The jury considers this layout a fundamental weakness of the proposal. On the other hand, the approach to energy, water management, terrain modeling, vegetation, and other environmental aspects is among the most refined and appears to be of very high quality. The design of the public spaces, offering opportunities for diverse uses, is also highly appreciated. The proposal clearly shows that the authors focused intensely on the urban concept and the public space between the buildings. These aspects are handled very well and are considered by the jury to be the strongest parts of the proposal. In contrast, the internal layouts appear underdeveloped and will require significant further refinement.

The proposal presents a simple architectural solution designed to meet the current needs of a modern operation near the train stop, the main street Čsl. Armády, and the center of the growing village. The project aims to fulfill the program requirements for rental housing, commercial and administrative spaces, and a new municipal office while creating a functional public space for markets and various cultural and social events. The massing is shaped to fit the village's rural character, and the functions of the individual buildings are designed with regard to the surrounding development, the character of the area, and their orientation to the cardinal points. The building heights gradually increase from the southwest edge of the area, adjacent to residential development, toward the northeast edge, where the new town hall becomes the dominant feature. The restrained and functional character of the new buildings is inspired by traditional forms combined with elements of contemporary architecture. They use simple, clean shapes with a modern architectural approach. The selected materials—in natural, earthy tones and varied textures—subtly differentiate the appearance of the various functions, ensuring a harmonious expression for the entire area. The design emphasizes sustainability, sufficient greenery, and the creation of a naturally permeable area. It also strongly focuses on the quality of public spaces and providing a pleasant environment for residents.

The strongest aspect of Competition Project No. 1 is the scale of the individual buildings, which matches the scale of the surrounding development in the village of Zeleneč, predominantly composed of single-family homes. However, the arrangement of the buildings feels rigid and does not create a natural, organic urban fabric that would fully meet the municipality’s requirements. Although the authors were warned in the first round about the excessive rigidity of the overall design, the proposal underwent no significant revision or adjustment in the second round. Progress remained limited to partial detailing and formal refinements. Urban design is based on two intersecting visual axes. The emphasized municipal office terminates the first axis, while the second leads toward a residential development of apartment buildings. The first axis is mainly defined by a plaza featuring a water element and greenery along the sides of the public space. The second axis serves as a pedestrian pathway between buildings with front gardens. However, underground parking beneath both areas significantly limits planting opportunities, especially for trees, negatively affecting these spaces' future quality and usability. The municipal office dominates the plaza and defines its spatial orientation. However, this orientation does not seem ideal when approached from the train station, the direction from which most visitors to the new center will arrive. From this vantage point, the office building is turned somewhat sideways and communicates insufficiently with incoming visitors. The multifunctional buildings and health center surrounding the plaza form a functional whole connected to the underground garages. This solution can be considered successful, although the grocery store placement is a notable weakness. Located in a corner of the plaza, it sits relatively far from the train stop, unnecessarily limiting its potential use. The architectural expression draws from traditional forms but is translated into a more contemporary interpretation. The apartment buildings also form a compact unit with direct access to underground garages and basement storage spaces, offering a user-friendly solution. However, the layouts feel fairly standard and lack creativity. The greatest limitations are found in the apartments on the second and third floors, which are designed as attic units. Their lighting and ventilation rely exclusively on roof windows, which are particularly unsuitable during summer. The placement of the stroller storage outside the residential buildings is highly impractical and contributes to the overall unconvincing nature of the layout design. The transportation and parking scheme is logically designed in terms of connections to the existing road network and access to individual buildings. The concept for greenery and blue-green infrastructure, outside the areas above the underground garages, is well developed and supports the pleasant use of public spaces through thoughtful planting.

The historical layout of the landscape, directly related to the division and use of agricultural land, remains visible to this day. The village's settlement structure is based on this principle and can be observed throughout Zeleneč. We believe it is appropriate to compose the new center primarily in relation to these historical contexts and therefore set forth the following foundations, which serve as the basis for the project work: • The conceptual layout and structure directly respond to the historical landscape patterns. • The area is quantitatively designed following the brief and the defined requirements. • The environment is designed to focus on the qualitative balance between outdoor and indoor comfort. • The massing and functional arrangement of individual buildings respect the local context. • The municipal building will be emphasized through its placement, massing, façade articulation, and materials. • The new transportation solution minimizes additional load on the existing settlement structure. • The energy performance of the proposed development meets current construction standards. • The structural system, as well as the technical and material solutions, are designed in line with contemporary trends in building and sustainability. • At the corner of the site, we propose placing an artistic object (landmark) to enhance the site's identity for residents and to provide a visible feature, for example, to passengers on passing trains.

The submitted proposal presents a developed solution with the necessary elements for a full evaluation. The layout corresponds to the requirements of the brief and appears convincing. The structural and material design of the proposal has been elaborated to an appropriate level, with positive recognition given to its sustainable energy concept, approach to stormwater management, and the suitable selection of plant species. The proposal also respects the municipality’s defined financial framework and, in this regard, appears feasible for implementation. On the other hand, the proposal contains significant shortcomings that negatively impact its overall contribution. Architecturally, the chosen form and scale of the buildings are inappropriate; their massing, combined with large roof dormers, disrupts the character of the roofscape and does not correspond to the context of the surrounding development. The reduction of paved areas and their transformation into unpaved surfaces did not result in a higher-quality public space. Pedestrian connections along Zahradní and Československé Armády Streets are unintuitive and complicated, weakening the functionality of the public realm. The entrance to the site feels insufficient—a small paved path does not meet the jury’s expectations for a proper entrance to the area. Placing surface parking spaces further diminishes the quality of the public spaces.