The façade of the Masary Ka building in Prague, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, was recently completed. The design of Masary Ka is defined by a passage route through its site, creating new spaces for the city. This 2The 80,000-square-meter office and commercial center caters to the growing demand for corporate office space and 21st century working in the city, with seven storeys to the east and nine storeys to the west.
The design of Masary Ka, in combination with the modern and historic Masaryk railway station of Czech Railways, will create a new plaza above the tracks, making it easier to circulate to the platform below and creating a new pedestrian route between Florenc Street and Hybernská Avenue on both sides of the station.
Masary Ka is located on a site that has been abandoned for decades, next to the platform on the south side of the Masaryk train station, and is connected to Na Florenci Street to the north and the Wilsovova Elevated Highway to the east. The new square on the west side of Masary Ka, which replaces the existing car park on H**lí Kova Boulevard, is the interchange of the city rail, tram and bus lines, and will in the future become the city's welcoming gateway to passengers from the suburban line and the future express line to Prague International Airport, which is still under construction.
Located 1 km east of Staroměstské Square in the heart of the city, Masary Ka's design is in dialogue with the architecture and urbanism of Prague's Old Town, the "City of Golden Spires". The exterior wings of the Masary Ka façade help shade the summer sun and transition the building's horizontal composition to a vertical façade structure on the west side facing the Old Town.
Designed with LEED Platinum certification in mind, Masary Ka features a double-layered insulated curtain wall and ensures optimal natural lighting in all work areas and public spaces. Terraced terraces separate the two buildings, with terraces on the east curtain wall giving each office floor ample outdoor space and a communal roof garden with views of the city. Hybrid ventilation is supported by efficient energy equipment with a waste heat** system, while the building's intelligent management system continuously monitors and controls the environment to reduce the building's energy consumption.
Masary Ka transformed Na Florenci Street into a boulevard by irrigating native plants, shrubs and trees planted in the site with a rainwater harvesting system, bringing cool summer shade and natural air purification to the new district. Low-flow systems and grey water** will further reduce the building's water usage.
The renovation of the Maaryk railway station, carried out by Czech Railways, will be completed in 2026. The project retains the historic terminus building and builds part of the new public square above the tracks to provide access to the individual platforms and direct transfers to the Prague Metro Line B. Its modern functional expansion plans to transform the station into a fully barrier-free urban multimodal transport hub.
Photo by boysplaynice).
project team
zha architect:zaha hadid architects (zha)
zha design:zaha hadid, patrik schumacher
competition
zha directing associate:daewha kang
zha project architect:jakub klaska
zha project team:michal wojtkiewicz, malgorzata kowalczyk, fernanda mugnaini, matthew carapiet, bogdan zaha, chenxi gong, maya boustany, jan klaska, brian dale
concept refinement - schematic design
zha project director:jim heverin
zha directing associate:craig kiner
zha project architects:jakub klaska, sara sheik akbari
zha project team:j**ier rueda, jan klaska, saman dadgostar, yifan zhang, moa carlson, juan montiel, carlos parrada-botero, monika bilska, harry spraiter, ovidiu mihutescu, niran buyukkoz, nan jiang, horatiu valcu
detailed design
zha project director:jim heverin
zha project architects:jakub klaska, victor orive
zha project team:harry spraiter, j**ier rueda, aiste dzikaraite, sven torres, muriel boselli, maria touloupou, thomas bagnoli
construction design
zha project director:jim heverin
zha project architect:jakub klaska
zha project team:harry spraiter, aleksandra mnich-spraiter, devansh daisaria