The result of the competition for the buildings at the site of the former Telecom will be in March

Prague - The development company Central Group intends to select the winner of the architectural workshop for the design of a complex of buildings that should be created on the site of the former Telecom building on Olšanská street in Prague's Žižkov by the end of March. The company purchased it in 2017 from the telecommunications company Česká telekomunikační infrastruktura (CETIN) from the PPF group, which still uses the building; however, according to previous information, they plan to relocate to Vysočany. Central Group wants to demolish the dominant building and construct apartments in its place. This is indicated by today's press release from the developer.

The workshop for the design of the new buildings started last summer, and according to the company, 98 studios from 30 countries registered for it. From these, a jury composed of experts and the head of Central Group, Dušan Kunovský, selected 12 finalists. The winner is expected to be announced by the end of March, and any demolition and construction will then depend on CETIN's relocation and decisions from the authorities. According to the company, the demolition is necessary due to the large amount of harmful asbestos present in the area with the dominant telephone exchange tower, and the buildings cannot be used for purposes other than those for which they were originally built.

According to the press release, architects participating in the competition include Sou Fujimoto from Japan, Ian Ritchie from the UK, and Richard Meier from the USA. From Czech names, Eva Jiřičná, Radek Kolařík, and Petr Bouřil are included. In addition to Kunovský, the jury consisted of architects Josef Pleskot, Zdeněk Fránek, David Vávra, and Roman Koucký.

"As part of the workshop jury, we believe that it would be appropriate to build a new complex of architecturally unique buildings at this site, which would heighten towards Želivského street, where a center of new Žižkov could arise,” said Kunovský. The company has already built a residential complex in the vicinity of the area and also owns land at the nearby Žižkov freight station, where it also intends to build.