jindřišská 16

The building at the corner of Jindřišská and Politických vězňů is in the area of the Prague Monument Reserve in the centre of the city, listed by UNESCO. František Havel, Czech builder in the mid-1800s, built this Classicist Neo-Renaissance tenement house in 1870. Originally a tenement house, it was converted according to the project by František Kavalír to a bank (Banka stavebních činností) in 1922-23. The building was the seat of the Česká televize (Czech TV) in the 1960s and underwent several alterations initiated by the management. The project deals with alteration of the original street wings and the addition in the courtyard block. The historical building’s ground floor consists of vacated rental areas and a café shop/restaurant that can be extended to the atrium. This atrium was established by roofing the former courtyard by a glass roof forming a spacious entrance lobby between the historical part and the new addition. The main reception for the whole office building and the entries to two lift vestibules are situated here. A tall bright green wall 30 m high is the landmark of the atrium together with an onyx reception counter illuminated through as an accent to dark floor tiling in the entrance lobby. S-shaped metal lamellas of the glass façade introduce dynamics into the atrium space (each story steps back upwards making space bigger). This dynamic is further emphasised by curved concrete columns of a variable elliptical shape stretching through all stories of the new building. The new addition is arranged as an open space allowing flexible layout/partitioning of offices. The restored entrance passage from Jindrišská features accentuating thin light strips in the floor and below the vaults, naturally leading visitors to the main atrium hall. The building has one basement and seven aboveground stories. It was certified LEED Gold. The new building’s facade is a fully glazed lightweight curtain wall (daylighting) with horizontal lamellas improving the distribution of light penetrating through the atrium’s glass roof. Light sandstone from the Božanov quarry is used as a stone veneer for the historic wings facing the atrium. Other aboveground stories of the historical are designed finely respecting the historic structures and details (two original curved staircases were preserved). The entry into the automatic parking system with 23 car places is now situated instead of the former supply entrance.