richard meier + john pawson selected for oaks prague scheme

richard meier + john pawson selected for oaks prague development
all images courtesy of oaks prague

three high-profile architecture practices have been added to the design team for oaks prague, a new residential development located on a scenic site close to the czech capital. john pawson, richard meier and eva jiřičná have all drawn up plans for three buildings which will form part of the complex that includes a new village center alongside 220 residential units.

richard meier’s apartment building is comprised of several clustered structures

richard meier & partners has contributed designs for an apartment building that comprises of several clustered structures with varying elevations in response to the site’s undulating topography. oriented towards the site’s 9-hole golf course, the frontline apartment building accommodates residential units with fully glazed eight meter wall-to-wall spans, as well as a fitness well-being center with an indoor pool.

richard meier, managing partner of richard meier & partners, said: ‘the work which we have done in the czech republic began over ten years ago with the design of the master plan of the pankrác plain, which included the construction of the “city” project, and we are very pleased to be currently collaborating with the arendon development company on the oaks prague project. it is exciting for us to contribute to the extraordinary local design sensibilities of czech culture.‘

the individual units are oriented towards the site’s 9-hole golf course

adjacent to the frontline apartment building is a low, gabled villa designed by czech architect eva jiřičná. the design, which combines modern architecture with vernacular czech tradition, is massed in three main volumes, with a titanium zinc sheet clad roof and a façade rendered in white stucco. the eastern wing of the home accommodates a large communal living area with a full-height attic ceiling and suspended mezzanine, which can act as private office space. other private spaces in the home include a wine cellar, basement and gym, which are each connected by a glass footbridge.

‘it is a privilege to contribute to this unique development in my home country and to be part of such a dynamic team of designers’, commented eva jiřičná. ‘with arendon’s aspirations for oaks prague in mind, we have designed a villa that will provide families with the space to plant their roots for decades to come.’

the interior of eva jiřičná’s gabled villa

at the center of the masterplan is a scheme designed by john pawson, which responds to the rich history of the site by integrating a 19th century chateau and farmstead into a new mixed-use complex. comprised of a hotel, spa, restaurant and club house, the design reinstates the chateau’s original courtyard form by reconstructing two barns and a new-build concrete structure. in order to create a coherent visual language for a scheme that combines restored, rebuilt and new-build structures, the design team has allocated materials that respond to traditional building techniques, such as lime render and mortar-filled rubble.

‘I’ve been working in the czech republic for more than a decade and a half’, explained pawson. ‘over the years you develop a strong sense of connection with a place. it’s exciting to have this new opportunity to make a piece of architecture that brings together contemporary and historic elements.’

john pawson’s renovated chateau comprises a hotel and spa

the three practices will be working alongside a team of young architecture practices who are designing a series of homes as part of the wider development. the team includes czech practices ADR, AI design and cigler marani working alongside UK-based practices coffey architects, duggan morris architects, eldridge smerin, hall mcknight, haptic, john pardey architects and mcgarry-moon architects.