Chemistry Building: 1.5 Billion Kč Project Approved Near Kulaťák

A well-lit building divided in height into three parts, it contains classrooms, administrative workplaces, but also commercial spaces for rent. And most importantly, a dignified main entrance to the university, facilities for students and spaces for holding conferences. The University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague (VŠCHT) will have a new building and with it 12,700 m2 of floor space, which it has needed for a long time.

The winning design was decided by an expert jury in an international architectural competition. “Architectural competition is generally considered the most suitable way of awarding important construction contracts in the public sphere. It allows comparing a wide range of truly high-quality and innovative designs from architects and checking different approaches to solving the given assignment,” explains VŠCHT Rector Milan Pospíšil.

The jury selected the one from the association ra15 and mackovič architecture by Radek Lampa and Jan Mackovič from dozens of proposals from all over the world. “A total of 33 proposals were submitted to the competition from the Czech Republic and abroad, including Austria, the Netherlands and Spain, which were evaluated in several rounds of evaluation,” adds the chairman of the jury, Jan Kasl.

Construction is scheduled to begin in March 2029, with completion planned for spring 2031.

“I am really satisfied with the course of the competition and the winning proposal. I think that our new building will be a decoration of Dejvice,” says VŠCHT rector Milan Pospíšil. “The main purpose of the new construction is to solve the long-term lack of space that hinders the scientific development of the university. Specialized laboratories and technological facilities intended for research and practical teaching will continue to be concentrated in historical buildings that are suitable for this purpose, the new building will house the administration, auditoriums and smaller classrooms,” adds the Rector.

He reminds that the school will pay for the construction of the new building mainly from the money it received from the sale of its other plots of land on Vítězné náměstí. “Unfortunately, year-on-year increases in the prices of construction work are permanently increasing our implementation costs, so we will have to look for other sources and we cannot do without a bank loan. The announced architectural competition was limited to the amount of 1,400 million crowns without VAT,” adds Pospíšil.

The construction is part of a wider plan for the completion of the fourth quadrant of Vítězné náměstí, the shape of which is currently being designed on the basis of a previous international urban planning competition won by the Czech-Dutch association Benthem Crouwel Architects and OV Architekti. The result should be a complete transformation of Victory Square.

“We appreciate that the winning architectural design sensitively follows on from the urban concept of the fourth quadrant, which develops the original Engel plan and helps to complete the composition of Victory Square. We would like to create a full-fledged urban district with high-quality public space here, together with our neighbors, the worthy centerpiece of which will be the new VŠCHT building,” says expert jury member Pavel Streblov from Penta Real Estate.