About the Competition

Česká spořitelna Campus Prague is an architectural competition held by the Czech bank Česká spořitelna and organized by the CCEA MOBA office.

Location

The new Česká spořitelna Headquarters should be part of the Smíchov City developed by the Sekyra Group Real Estate, a 20-ha property in Prague 5 which contains office, commercial, and residential development for approximately 3,300 residents, and public buildings, such as school or large P&R. This development will transform the old railway station into a multi-functional district with parks and quality public spaces.
The plots are divided into two zones: Smíchov South and Smíchov North. Smíchov North will be utilized predominantly for residential development, Smíchov South will be utilized for commercial development, mainly the Česká spořitelna Headquarters.

 

Subject of the Competition

1. Project Study – Česká spořitelna Headquarters

The new Headquarters should provide new collaborative space for more than 3,500 employees. The Headquarters should preferably consist of several buildings. A ‘Campus’ concept is welcome where single buildings are connected by one common space.
Total GFS: 75,000 sqm above ground; approximately 80–85 % of GFS should be considered as office space.
Other major usages will be concentrated preferably to the entrance common space, like canteen, restaurants and shops. Some of the following supplementary functionalities are envisaged: e.g. kindergarten, fitness centre, gym, post office and health centre. In the programme will also be one large auditorium and conference rooms, storage spaces, archives, as well as bike storage for the employees and garages.

2. Urban Concept of the Smíchov South

Detailed urban concept of the Zone Smíchov South will be also a subject of this competition.
Under the applicable Prague City Master Plan, the Zone Smíchov South is located in area of 49,630 sqm dedicated for commercial development allowing for placement of buildings with the total gross floor space (GFS) of 129,000 sqm.
From this capacity, 75,000 sqm is dedicated for Česká spořitelna Headquarters (“CS Campus”) and 54,000 sqm for further Developer’s commercial development (“Other Land”) which should contain offices, hotel and retail.
The CS Campus can be placed in any part of Smíchov South, however, the Other Land office development has to remain as one compact cluster, hotel position is to be determined; the urban concept will therefore solve placing CS Campus and Other Land in the Smíchov South and also main pedestrian and car accesses into and within the Smíchov South. The traffic solution should be based on the outline traffic study set by the European Transportation Company s.r.o. (the traffic engineers should be nominated consultants to the Architect).

 

Česká spořitelna is pleased to offer an open call opportunity to European architects to participate in an architecture competition for the best design for its new Headquarters in Prague.
The new Headquarters should create a new, open and innovative collaborative workspace for our employees that would at the same time interconnect customers, employees and the public in general. It should also provide a strong visible sign of our purpose and should help to develop the district and also bring prosperity to the community. The new Headquarters should be part of the commercial part of the Smíchov City project developed by Sekyra Group.
More than 140 years ago, in 1874, Spořitelna Česká, the predecessor of Česká spořitelna, organised an architectonic competition for the Rudolfinum gallery and concert hall in Prague. Rudolfinum was completed at the cost of Spořitelna Česká in 1885 and since that time this building has been an indispensable part of Prague’s cultural life and has also become one of the city’s landmarks.
The new Česká spořitelna headquarters should bring to the Smíchov City and to the City of Prague high quality architecture that will serve for decades, not only to Česká spořitelna, but also to the community as a whole and, similarly to Rudolfinum, significantly contribute to the creation of a new modern part of the city.
Česká spořitelna warmly invites architects to participate in this competition. We will consider all applications and will be looking for the most suitable partner who will be able to cooperate with Česká spořitelna and the Sekyra Group on this ambitious project.

Who could join the competition?

The competition is international and open to all professionals who fulfill basic qualification criteria and who operate as architects or civil engineers in the European Economic Area (EEA), European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and Switzerland.
For more info go to Participation Criteria

Competition Process

Open Call (Prequalification)

Submission deadline 16. 10. 2017 (midnight CET)

There are basic general and qualification criteria (point 4 of the Competition regulations – Participation in the Competition). Any individual or entity fulfilling them may answer the open call and enter the competition.
They can enter either as „matador architects“ or „emerging professionals“ by submitting a portfolio including a motivation letter and following project presentations (for the selected projects they have to have the role of authors of architectonic design):
Matador Architects
– One executed project with a total floor area of at least 20,000 sqm and at least 70 % of this area being office space, completed in the last 7 years
– One executed project with total a floor area of at least 5,000 sqm of any non-monofunctional type, completed in the last 7 years
– One architectural study or competition proposal of a project with a total floor area of at least 5,000 sqm of any type
Emerging Professionals
– One executed project with total floor area of at least 5,000 sqm of any non-monofunctional type, completed in the last 7 years
– Two architectural studies or competition proposals of a project with a total floor area of at least 5,000 sqm of any type
The jury will then select 15 teams that will be invited to the anonymous design round. At least 10 of them should be matador architects and up to 5 of them should be emerging professionals.

Anonymous Design Round (First)

Invitation 8. 11. 2017
Workshop in Prague 20. 11. 2017
Submission deadline 5. 2. 2018

All the fifteen invited teams will receive the competition documentation, they will be welcome to participate at Q&A workshop held in Prague. Then they submit anonymously their design proposals. Their identities will be unknown to the jury until the decision on their ranking is made.
The design proposal will consist of posters, booklet, digital data, and contact information in a sealed envelope, and must be delivered before the deadline to the associated law office in Prague.
All the teams that deliver their proposals in accordance with the competition regulations and the brief issued for the anonymous design round, will receive a fee of 20,000 EUR.
The jury will select 6 teams that will be invited to the presentation round.

Presentation round (Second)

Invitation 7. 3. 2018
Discussion in Prague 16., 19., 20. 3. 2018
Submission deadline 4. 5. 2018
Presentation in Prague 8.–9. 6. 2018

The six selected teams will receive, together with invitation, also comments and recommendations of the jury, so that they can adjust their projects and deliver a good presentation. They will be also invited to a common discussion with the announcer held in Prague, so they could pose inquiries in person.
Preceding the presentation, the teams should submit new posters, booklet, digital data, and a physical model, before the deadline.
All the teams that deliver their proposals in accordance with the competition regulations and the invitation issued for the presentation round, will receive a fee of 30,000 EUR.
The jury will select 3 proposals, rank them as 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. The announcer will then negotiate a contract for the following commission with one of these teams.