Neglected Prague transport hub Nádraží Holešovice set for major transformation

The long-neglected surroundings of Prague's Nádraží Holešovice are set for a major transformation, with plans for two new public squares, housing, shops and a high-rise building alongside a redesigned transport hub.

Czech architecture studio CHYBÍK + KRIŠTOF has won an international competition to redesign the 83,000-square-meter area around the railway, metro, tram and bus connections in Prague 7.

For commuters, one of the biggest changes will be a more direct, barrier-free connection between the railway and metro, allowing passengers to transfer between them without going outside. New arched halls are also intended to make transfers between trains, metro, buses and trams easier to navigate.

Construction could begin within five years, though the winning proposal will still undergo further development before becoming reality.

Today, Nádraží Holešovice primarily functions as a place to pass through. The winning design aims to turn it into a destination in its own right while preserving its role as one of northern Prague's major transport hubs.

Two new public squares, each covering at least 3,500 square meters, will form focal points on either side of Vrbenského Street. A new street lined with shops and services is also planned.

Space alongside and beneath the railway viaduct would be opened up for retail and cultural uses, while the wider district is set to include apartments, offices, a hotel, studios and a kindergarten.

A distinctive high-rise building is planned as a visual landmark for the neighborhood. The proposal also uses curved halls around the transport interchange to create clearer routes between different forms of public transportation.

"Our design combines two seemingly contradictory qualities of urban neighborhoods," studio founders Ondřej Chybík and Michal Krištof told CzechCrunch. "It preserves fast and intuitive transfers between train, metro and tram, while at the same time creating destination squares so that people have a reason to stay."

The scale of the redevelopment is substantial. The wider site has the capacity for up to 320,000 square meters of gross floor area, according to business daily e15, and most of the existing buildings within the development area are expected to be demolished.

The project, known as Nové Holešovice, brings together Prague's public transport company DPP with several of Czechia's biggest private property investors.

CPI Property Group and EP Real Estate are partners in the development alongside DPP, while Penta Real Estate and AKIPIA are also involved in the wider project. Prague City Hall and the Prague 7 district are cooperating on the plans.

DPP holds a 25 percent stake in the joint venture, marking the Prague transport company's first development partnership with private investors. The company is also expected to share in future profits generated by the site.

The redevelopment comes as the wider Bubny-Holešovice area undergoes one of Prague's largest urban transformations.

The nearby Bubny-Zátory brownfield is gradually being redeveloped into a new neighborhood, while Prague's planned Vltava Philharmonic Hall is set to reshape the area around Vltavská to the south.

At Nádraží Holešovice, the ambition is to extend that transformation northward and replace the fragmented spaces around the station with a more conventional piece of the city.

CHYBÍK + KRIŠTOF beat four other finalists in the second round of the architectural competition: Denmark's ADEPT, Austria's Baumschlager Eberle Architekten, Germany's Behnisch Architekten and Czech studio OVA.

Prague residents will be able to see all of the competing designs from Oct. 5 at Prague 7 City Hall on U Průhonu. A selection of the exhibition will also be displayed directly in the northern vestibule of Nádraží Holešovice metro station during operating hours.