Lesy ČR in the new headquarters will blend with nature

The company K4 Architects & Engineers (K4 A&E) has entered into a contract with the Forests of the Czech Republic (Lesy ČR) in February this year, in association with CHYBIK + KRISTOF and designer and civil engineer Ivo Stolkem, for their new headquarters project in Hradec Králové. The new headquarters will replace the existing building from the 1970s. The consortium of designers and architects is currently preparing new project documentation, with the investor aiming to obtain a building permit by October next year. The start of construction is planned for 2026, with completion three years later.

"This is a revived project following the architectural competition and the original design developed by our consortium in 2017-2018, which was not realized due to economic difficulties related to the bark beetle calamity," says Vladimír Pacek, director of K4 Architects & Engineers. The original design of the consortium now needs to be revised and updated in light of the development of material prices and construction conditions.

K4 A&E is responsible for preparing all phases of the project documentation and author supervision, i.e., the technical part of the project, construction and structural design, all profession coordination, technical support for the team of architects, and engineering (negotiating and obtaining all necessary permits from relevant authorities and the building office). A large part of this work will be carried out internally by the Brno firm. They will also involve other specialized companies to provide local support and expertise in the field.

"The construction of the Lesy ČR headquarters will be very sensitively integrated into the suburban forests of Hradec Králové, and its undulating floor plan will help it blend with nature in the spirit of the architectural concept 'Forests in the Forest.' It is certainly not an ordinary administrative building designed on a standard rectangular floor plan somewhere in an urban area," specifies Vladimír Pacek from K4 Architects & Engineers, who notes that, unlike in the Czech Republic, multi-story wooden buildings are already common practice in Europe.

Passive House with Emphasis on Maximum Use of Wood

In the newly prepared project, the consortium plans to increase the use of wood; the administrative building will be a complete wooden structure in its two above-ground floors. "This revives the investment intention, which can significantly advance the possibilities of using wood and other modern and sustainable construction solutions in the construction of administrative buildings not only in our republic," explains Vladimír Pacek. Spruce laminated wood will be predominantly used in the construction of the new headquarters. Whether the wood will come from Czech forests will primarily depend on the investor's requirements for the realization and the construction contractor.

The project for the new headquarters of Lesy ČR will also involve the Rožnov company TAROS NOVA, which collaborates with K4 on wooden construction design and communication with the Fire Rescue Service (HZS). "The specifics of wooden buildings in the Czech Republic are the same as for conventional buildings, meaning that the wooden structure must meet all requirements for statics, dynamics, acoustics, and, for example, fire safety. However, it is particularly important for wooden buildings to focus on dynamics and acoustics in addition to statics," explains Václav Röder, head of the company’s design division.

However, the Lesy ČR headquarters will not be only a wooden structure; the investor's goal is to build a passive house. The project includes a photovoltaic system primarily for self-consumption of energy. The authors of the project further plan to utilize central ventilation with heat recovery and central cooling of the entire building. The project also proposes about 60 parking spaces for electric vehicle charging.

Architectural Concept "Forests in the Forest"

The original undulating floor plan of the new headquarters will be only slightly adjusted within the new building program assignment. The layout of the headquarters will also take into account the current requirements of the investor, such as the arrangement of work segments, organization of common areas, or solutions for the basement facilities. Concurrently, the capacity of parking spaces will be increased by 100 cars compared to the original design, totaling 328 spaces. New parking areas will be created underground.

The construction of the new Lesy ČR headquarters respects the situational possibilities of the land – the nearby forest boundary and the existing range of office spaces. The shape of the upper structure is dictated by the division of the office into five operational units of the investor, with one unit located in each "finger-branch." In the basement of the building, storage areas, archives, and technical and technological facilities for the entire building are situated, now including parking spaces. The lower part of the building is designed as a monolithic structure of reinforced concrete, while the upper part is designed as a frame wooden skeleton construction with stiffening wooden walls.

Specifics of Wooden Constructions in the Czech Republic

The stiffening cores of the building, which also create protected escape routes, are designed from reinforced concrete and CLT panels with regard to fire safety requirements. "The design of fire resistance of the building structures and safety solutions in fire-hazardous spaces is more demanding due to the size and shape of the structure. However, the principle is the same as for other wooden constructions," says Radek Ondruch regarding the specifics of fire safety solutions for wooden buildings, noting that one of the main limitations for wooden constructions in the Czech Republic relates to fire safety, particularly setback distances and also low maximum height.

For wooden buildings, it is also generally important to maintain the moisture content of the wood below 18%; otherwise, if the prescribed maintenance rules are not followed, there is a risk of wood being attacked by pests, mold, or fungi. This concern applies to structures that are consistently exposed to high moisture or water. However, modern wooden constructions address this issue, as they utilize construction systems made from glued wood materials (CLT, BSH, LLD), which will also be incorporated into the Lesy ČR structures, where the moisture content of the wood ranges from 8-12%.

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Gross floor area: upper structure approximately 9,580 m², lower structure approximately 6,600 m²
Volume of the building: approximately 74,000 m³
Height of the building above ground: approximately 8.5 m


K4 Architects & Engineers has been involved in building design and project management for over 29 years and has completed more than 1,500 successful projects domestically. The company’s portfolio includes administrative and commercial spaces, industrial and logistics areas, as well as residential apartment buildings, operating theaters, and projects in the energy sector.

K4 began as a regional office in Brno and now has a subsidiary branch in Prague at Kubánské náměstí, with an annual turnover of around 200 million crowns. Projects by the company include the Technology Park in Brno, the New Zbrojovka, the revitalization of Masaryk Station, Florentina and Waltrovka in Prague, modernization of ÚAN Zvonařky in Brno, the Nová Karolina shopping and entertainment center in Ostrava, and the reconstruction of individual branches of Česká spořitelna across the Czech Republic, or the Wellness Hotel Vista in Dolní Morava. The firm collaborates with both emerging Brno architects and renowned architectural firms, such as Jakub Cigler Architects, the Burian - Křivinka architectural office, Chybík + Krištof Architects, Kuba & Pilař Architects, and others.