Sustainability: Flower Building design in Prague sets new environmental standards

Chapman Taylor’s ‘Flower Building’ in Prague has gained the support of the Czech Green Building Council

Wenceslas Square is part of the wider historic city centre in Prague, Czech Republic, and is a World Heritage Site.  It is at the very heart of Prague’s business and cultural community and the opportunity to design a new building in this historic location is very rare.

Chapman Taylor, as one of the Czech Republic’s leading architect practices, has a strong reputation for designing buildings that blend seamlessly into historic city centres as well as delivering sustainability in all their projects. 

Our brief from the client - Flow East - contained three main criteria: to design an aspirational new building reflecting the historical and social significance of this very special site; to create a state of the art mixed-use building using sustainable and innovative technologies; and to fulfil the commercial requirements of one of the central business districts of the City.  
 
The design, soon dubbed ‘The Flower Building’ by the local press, is for a 31,000sqm mixed-use building that provides retail at the lower levels, as well as high quality office space and basement parking. The proposal also provides charging points for electric vehicles and encourages commuting by bicycle by including secure bike storage, changing rooms and showers. The fully integrated and intelligent building technical systems help reduce energy consumption, when compared to the existing building, by three-quarters while also eliminating the production of noxious emissions in the city centre.
 
Flow East has just completed an environmental audit on the design of the new building, which meets with the approval of the Czech Green Building Council, a non-profit, non-government organisation that is part of a global network recognised by the World Green Building Council.
 
In a recent press release, Pavel Srb, a board member of the Czech Green Building Council said “The Czech Green Building Council gladly support development projects such as the Flower Building with their innovative environmental and sustainability plans and practices”.

In addition James Woolf, CEO of Flow East said “The Flower Building’s visual impact is obvious – a transparent cascade of glass flooding the interior with natural light”. It “not only complies with, but exceeds the highest environmental standards of today. This is the way developers and architects must be thinking if our city is to retain its beauty and habitability in years to come.”
 
Consistent with the tradition of other notable buildings on Wenceslas Square the ‘Flower Building’ will incorporate sculptural and artistic elements to the façades and key interior spaces.
 
For more information about Chapman Taylor in Prague and our environmental design credentials please contact ….

Jon Hale
jhale@chapmantaylor.cz