Prague's Náplavka embankment gets new wooden benches that can survive floods

Visitors to Prague's popular Náplavka are getting new places to sit along the Vltava — but these aren't quite ordinary park benches.

The first of 27 new seating arrangements are being installed along Rašínovo nábřeží, with several already available between the railway bridge and Vyšehrad. Made from massive oak beams sourced in eastern Czechia, the benches are specially anchored to withstand the flooding that periodically submerges the riverside embankment.

The CZK 4.12 million project will eventually add 69 individual oak seating elements, including two large "nests" designed for picnics and groups of friends. Installation is expected to be completed by Oct. 15.

Náplavka sits within the Vltava's active flood zone, creating an unusual challenge for designers of permanent street furniture.

The new wooden elements therefore sit on steel support frames anchored into concrete foundations. Installing them requires sections of the embankment's stone paving to be removed and subsequently restored.

The benches themselves vary according to location. Standard arrangements contain between one and three large oak elements, while each of the two larger gathering areas will consist of eight. Their two-level design also creates lower seating accessible to children.

Wood was chosen partly for comfort, according to architect Petr Lešek of Projektil architekti. Unlike stone or metal, it remains relatively comfortable to sit on during hot summer weather while also reflecting the historic character of the riverfront.

The final choice of material followed an unusually long real-world experiment.

A prototype "nest" was installed at Náplavka in 2018 to test three different types of wood (azobé, oak and Canadian cedar) along with two anchoring methods. The timber was deliberately left untreated for the following 8.5 years to see how it would withstand conditions beside the river.

Oak ultimately won out because of its cost and local availability. The wood being used for the new benches comes from around the Orlice area of eastern Czechia.

Plans for the seating go back even further than the prototype. Prague commissioned a feasibility study in 2014, and the benches became part of the approved Rašínovo nábřeží revitalization concept in 2017.

The project follows some of the much more visible changes that have transformed Náplavka over the past decade, including the reconstruction of the riverside vaults, or kobky, and upgrades to utilities along the embankment.

City-owned Trade Centre Praha, which manages Prague's riverbanks, said the goal was to create more than conventional rows of benches.

"We didn't want simply to replace old benches with new ones, but to offer different ways to use the space by the river — from a short sit to a longer rest with views of the Vltava or Prague Castle," TCP board vice chair Marta Pražáková said.

That includes the two larger seating "nests," where the layout is intended to encourage people to face and interact with each other rather than simply look out over the river.

The entire contract costs CZK 4.121 million before VAT, covering the wooden and steel structures as well as foundations, ground work, paving restoration, transport and installation. The final price came in about 8 percent below the project's initial estimate.

For regular Náplavka visitors, the result is a relatively small addition to one of Prague's busiest public spaces. But after more than a decade of planning and testing, the new benches are designed to remain there through summer crowds — and even the occasional Vltava flood.