cherubín II

The development of the corner site we design works with the given space as a very important point announcing the entry to the central part of the Smíchov neighbourhood from the west. By its position, the building at the same time becomes an element closing the distant view from Lidická (street) through Anděl to Plzeňská and therefore constrains the Smichov centre from the opposite direction in the Anděl area. The building’s new context is also views one may experience when driving through the city on the ring road – from the portal of the Mrázovka tunnel and specifically when leaving the Strahovský tunnel. This is another reason why the design works with the principle of an important vertical landmark that would not be substantiated at different nearby positions the way it is at this particular spot as seen from the perspective of city formative qualities. The simple mass-based principle of the designed plan is based on working with breaking of one compact volume. First, it follows the height of the building no. 13 on Na Zatlance (street). It establishes a roofed space opened into the interior atrium above the main entry area in front of the building. The volume then falls eastwards to Kováků (street) and breaking once again on the 4th story level its laterally placed mass heads back westwards toward the highest level of the building (i.e. 12th story). Here, the broken form transforms into the north part of the tower descending to the level of the surrounding grade and breaking yet again to the horizontal south wing. The directions the masses break into respond to the directions present in the area – that is the Plzeňská street line, its turn towards the portal of the Strahovský tunnel and the direction of bridging between the tunnels. Moreover, leaning of some edges – namely of those towards the bridge and over Kováků – lends the entire composition particular dynamics. The office building and the body of the sports hall integrate in one mass here. The designed volume this way reaches the high school’s west dead gable wall where it connects to the school and Mrázovka (street) via a circulation area. Establishing a certain massive barrier between the courtyard front of the high school and the bridge between both ring road tunnels that may be formed by positioning this building here will undoubtedly result in decreased noise loading inside the courtyard wing and thus upgrading the user comfort in this school. The planned building’s envelope is a perforated loadbearing facade with a unifying network of diagonal members covering the fixing structure of the secondary glazing curtain wall set in front of it. The desired effect of this makeup is multilayerdness and, at the same time, a calming unity of the envelope as a counterpoint to this expressive mass composition. The entry area to Plzeňská naturally concentrates all entrances to the building (retail-services on the ground floor and the entrance lobby to the office section). The office spaces are more or less composed as a standard three-winged structure allowing open space and individual offices in the end wings and service areas in the central wing. The sports hall is partly recessed in the basement (this is necessary due to its total dimension); there is a school canteen above it and three office stories above the canteen.