Budějovická Set for a New Future: Eight European Architecture Practices to Compete

Three Czech and five international architectural teams will propose a new vision for the area surrounding Budějovická metro station. The international Nová Budějárna competition aims to transform what is today an unattractive and difficult-to-navigate area into a vibrant urban centre with housing, services, and high-quality public spaces. The competition explores the potential placement of high-rise buildings while addressing local challenges such as poor permeability, complex traffic conditions, and a lack of greenery. The winning proposal will be selected by an international jury at the end of this year. Construction is expected to begin in 2029. 

Penta Real Estate and DBK Praha, in cooperation with the City of Prague and Prague 4 Municipal District, have launched the international urban design and architectural competition Nová Budějárna. The aim of the competition is to create a new vision for the area around Budějovická metro station and transform the currently fragmented and difficult-to-access site of approximately 40,000 m², bounded by Budějovická, Olbrachtova, Poláčkova, and Antala Staška streets. The area is intended to become a vibrant urban centre with predominantly residential uses, high-quality public spaces, and an expanded range of services associated with the DBK shopping centre.

Based on the recommendation of the competition jury, the organisers invited eight renowned architectural teams to participate – three Czech and five international. The Czech teams are A8000, UNIT Architekti, and Pavel Hnilička Architects+Planners. The international participants – ADEPT, COBE, GINA Barcelona Architects, Hamonic + Masson & Associés, and Howells – have experience with comparable development projects, including the Nordhavn district in Copenhagen (COBE), London City Island (Howells), the redevelopment of the Vall d’Hebron campus in Barcelona (GINA Barcelona Architects), a new district on the site of the former Arsenal military complex in the Paris metropolitan area (Hamonic + Masson & Associés), and development around the new København Syd metro station (ADEPT).

The competing teams were selected on the basis of their experience with similar assignments. Particular emphasis was placed on the quality of their urban concepts, architectural design, public-space proposals, and landscape design in reference projects. International teams were required to collaborate with a Czech partner. “The Czech planning and development context has its own specific characteristics, and we wanted to ensure that the proposals of international participants would respond to them,” explained the organisers. The first competition workshop took place on 18 June directly within the competition area, with the participation of all selected teams, the organisers, representatives of the City of Prague, Prague 4 Municipal District, and the Prague Institute of Planning and Development (IPR Prague).

The competition has received confirmation from the Czech Chamber of Architects. The jury is chaired by the German architect Stefan Behnisch. Other jury members include Lithuanian architect Gilma Teodora Gylytė, architect Štěpán Valouch, urban planner Matyáš Sedlák, and architect Cyril Pavlů. The dependent section of the jury consists of representatives of the City of Prague, Prague 4 Municipal District, Penta Real Estate, and DBK Praha.

The competition will take the form of a two-stage competition workshop. Initial concepts will be submitted at the end of the summer, the strongest proposals will advance to the second stage, and the winning design should be announced at the turn of 2026 and 2027.

The public was also involved in preparing the competition through a participation process organised in cooperation with Prague 4 Municipal District on 21 May. Residents’ comments concerning public spaces, transport, greenery, safety, and public amenities were provided to the competing teams, helping them understand how local people perceive the area and its future development.