The Myslbek building

The Myslbek, located in Prague’s historical Old Town, is a high-end building consisting of office space and shops. The building features 6 storeys of usable area and 4 levels of underground parking with a total of 300 spaces.  The building covers a total area of 44,000 m², including 17,600 m² of office space, 6,400 m² of retail space, and 1,100 m² of public walkways.

BACKGROUND

In an architecture competition held as part of a development project for the last large available lot in Prague, the Czechs Zdenek Holzel and Jan Kerel and the Frenchman Claude Parent came out on top. They decided to partner together to develop 17,600 m² of office space and 6,400 m² of retail space around a public walkway, as in the best Prague tradition.
This building is the first shopping centre built in Prague, immediately following the fall of the Soviet Bloc, in an effort by France’s political leaders to support the Czech Republic’s political transition.

TECHNICAL OVERVIEW

To create this building combining office and retail space as part of a turnkey design-build project for the deposits and consignments fund (a French public sector financial institution), the VINCI Group took the reins on both the project management and marketing fronts.
The main challenge during the construction phase was low-temperature concreting, as low as minus 20°C in the winter months. Another challenge was the limited space available for the worksite: our logistics plan had to minimize potential nuisances for neighbouring tenants.
The building’s façade features a stainless steel door that weighs no less than 8 tonnes. This door symbolizes the Old Town and the New Prague, since the building is located at the junction of the road that marks this separation. Overhanging a second door, designed by Czech sculptor Karel Nepraš, are bronze heads that represent the crowd.
The mall itself is designed as a relaxing shopping centre in the middle of which there is a circular area featuring several restaurants.

“This building responds to the need for modern office and retail space in the Czech capital and is an example of the close cooperation between our two countries.” 
Philippe Lagayette, executive director, deposits fund.

IMPACT

The Myslbek shopping centre was opened in 1996 and is named after the sculptor Josef Václav Myslbek. It is located in Na Prikope street in the heart of Prague’s shopping district. It connects this shopping street to the fruit market (Ovocný trh) in the Old Town, very much in accordance with Prague’s long tradition of public walkways. Its very modern façade, especially for its era, represents the gateway to the Old Town that was opened every morning and closed in the evening, marking the rhythm of day-to-day life in Prague.
Concurrent with this project, an industrial building initiative for foreign investors was also developed, for example, the rehabilitation of École française de Prague (Prague’s French school) and various other hotel projects as well as construction of new residential and other types of buildings.

Project participants

Client
Myslbek A.S

Key figures

Implementation dates
November 1994 to September 1997

Reinforcement
2,600 t

Concrete
2,600 m3

Total area
44,000 m2