The tallest building in the Czech Republic for the past ten years is the Brno AZ Tower, which stands at 111 meters

Prague - The tallest building in the Czech Republic has been the Brno AZ Tower at 111 meters for the past ten years. The skyscraper in the so-called Brno Manhattan was opened on June 26, 2013 (it became the tallest building in the Czech Republic upon the completion of construction on March 27, 2013); construction began in 2011 and cost 800 million crowns. It surpassed the Prague City Tower by two meters, which had held the record since 2007.

The AZ Tower has 30 above-ground and two underground floors. It is designed as a multifunctional complex. The three-story base houses shops, restaurants, a car showroom with service, and a fitness center. The tower contains offices, and on the upper floors, there are 17 apartments, with a luxurious duplex apartment with a pool located on the 28th and 29th floors. The unusual shape of the building was imparted by the Brno architectural office Burian-Křivinka.

The AZ Tower project was initiated by the Brno developer Properity and the Jihlava development and construction company PSJ, which was the general contractor for the construction. Since 2020, the building has been owned by the investment group Natland of Tomáš Raška, which purchased it from the Couf trade company of lawyer Jan Pavelka.

The building is equipped with thirty-meter deep energy piles that capture heat in winter and cool in summer thanks to heat pumps. The entire southern facade of the elevator shaft, which covers an area of 700 square meters, is covered with photovoltaic panels that supply electricity to the building's common areas.

The AZ Tower is located in the Brno district of Štýřice between Pražákova and Heršpická streets. This location is colloquially referred to as the "Brno Manhattan." In addition to the AZ Tower, there is, for example, the 60-meter high M-Palác and the 25 meters taller office tower Spielberk Office Centre.

Most of the spaces in the tallest building in the Czech Republic are currently occupied. Public tours, which had a great deal of interest in the past, ended with the COVID pandemic; the building management is considering their resumption. "Public tours are currently not being held; they were halted in connection with the previous epidemic, and we are currently thinking about a model that would be suitable for ensuring the safety of visitors and the usual operation of the building. Practically every week, we are asked about the possibilities of visiting the observation platform by individuals and groups," said Ondřej Stojaspal, chairman of the Association of Unit Owners, to ČTK in March this year.

There are several contenders to surpass the height record of the AZ Tower, in Brno, Ostrava, or Prague.

For several years, there have been talks about building a 117-meter Heršpická Palace in the so-called Brno Manhattan, designed by the renowned Czech architect Eva Jiřičná.

In the future, Ostrava could have the tallest building. In 2020, city councilors decided to sell a plot of land in the city center, on which the Ostrava company RT Torax wants to build a commercial and administrative center with a hotel and apartments in a 60-story building with a height of 238 meters. The construction in the area called Slza is expected to cost over two billion crowns. The final shape of the skyscraper will emerge from an architectural competition, and according to the investor, the construction start is planned for 2028, with completion no later than 2032. The object, named Ostrava Tower, could become a new landmark of the regional metropolis.

Prague is not lagging behind either. In February this year, the investment and development group Trigema announced that it plans to build up to 1000 rental apartments in Prague's Nové Butovice within six years, including the Top Tower, which, if constructed, would become the tallest building in the Czech Republic at 135 meters.