The concept of the competition entry focuses on designing an attractive urban space that will bring life into the locality, will transform and newly define it. The goal is to support the context with the surrounding urban and green areas.
Project Name: The New Eden / v2
Studio Name: Šmídová Landspace Architects
The object defines a new city environment that allows for clearly distinguishing individual parts of the surrounding space. In the northern part a public space with a distinctly character connects the Vršovická street with new entrances into the building. The green courtyard in the western part connects the individual height levels of the new urban space through large steps and ramps. In the southern part the space connects to the future railway promenade with a near-nature type of a park.
A water mirror enhances the entire space and invites to relaxation and play. An area extending the living parterre and opening up to the residential quarters offers a much more enclosed and quieter character. The prominent adjacent stairway interlinks the new public space and makes it a whole. Paved surfaces freely transform into large areas of vegetation offering tranquillity and full encirclement by greenery.
The aim of an efficient water management is to minimize drainage and maximize reuse of rainwater on the site of its interception. To achieve this, our design directs the flow of rainwater from the hard surfaces onto green and gravel strips where it is used to improve the conditions for the newly planted trees. Green roofs cool down the photovoltaic panel systems by means of evapotranspiration and on hot days the solar panels provide shade to the plants. On the roof areas, rainwater is intercepted partially by the actual vegetation and partially in additional retention system right below the vegetation layer.
