The development company Sekyra Group, an exclusive member of the Czech Green Building Council, intends to revitalize tens of hectares of Prague brownfields in the coming years. The company plans to turn unused areas, used for industrial production or transport and bearing significant environmental burdens from the past, into a modern city district with large green areas.
According to the Institute of Planning and Development of the Capital City of Prague (IPR), in the near future, eleven locations of former industrial complexes or railway stations will be revitalized. The total area is 940 hectares. "The disadvantages of these locations are environmental burdens and the lack of infrastructure," says Leoš Anderle, CEO of Sekyra Group. "On the other hand, these are plots of land with good transport accessibility and all services in the area," he adds. According to Sekyra Group, revitalization of brownfields represents the right way for the development of Prague. "It is more desirable to build on unused land within the city instead of pushing its borders further, because expanding brings significant costs and demands, especially on the transport infrastructure," explains Anderle.
Public space is a priority
The revitalization of Prague's brownfields is Sekyra Group’s current main activity, in which it invests tens of billions of crowns. Last year, the construction work on the former railway land in Smíchov, where a new Prague district of Smíchov City on twenty hectares will emerge, began. The preparation of the project alone took fifteen years. After its completion, ie within twelve years, almost 400,000 square meters of residential, administrative, commercial and public areas will be created, which will be connected by a roughly one-kilometer pedestrian boulevard. It will be lined with greenery.
As part of the Smíchov City project, more than two hectares of green space are planned to be etsablished. "We placed priority emphasis on public space, as this is the most valuable thing, we can offer the city. We focused on the double interaction of public space - both with private space and with public life and people. This is the essence of our philosophy," Leoš Anderle summarizes the main idea of the project.
New green heart
In the coming days, Sekyra Group will start construction work on another brownfield, the Rohan Island. The area was the riverbed of the Vltava until the first half of the last century. It was later backfilled and the newly created areas were used for industrial and storage purposes. The developer wants to build the Rohan City project on more than twenty hectares by 2035. In total, apartments and job positions for eleven thousand people are expected to emerge here. The existing cycle path leading through Rohanský ostrov will be lined by a large park prepared by the City of Prague. The size of the park will be comparable with the size of Stromovka. "The Rohan City has an ambition to become the new green heart of Prague," says Leoš Anderle, adding that the proximity of the Vltava River brings a unique atmosphere to the locality.
Sekyra Group is also involved in the revitalization of the southern part of the 30-hectare area of the former Žižkov freight station. "The whole new district will have a predominantly residential character," says Leoš Anderle. A total of 7,500 flats will be built here, of which 3,000 will be built by the Sekyra Group. The dominant and the heart of the whole area will be the functionalist building of the Žižkov freight station, which will become a social and cultural center. In Žižkov, as well as in Smíchov and on Rohan Island, Sekyra Group plans to establish large green areas. The transformation of the freight station will begin in 2023.