Where history meets future

Five is a commercial building developed

- QARTA ARCHITEKTURA

History meets future declares the fitting motto chosen for the project Five, located in Smíchov, a district in the west of Prague.

A “relic” tram depot building occupied the project site, surrounded by an area that was transforming into a fully-fledged city district, delimited by the two transport arteries of the day: the Vltava river with its Smíchov Port and the railway with the Smíchov train station.

This timeline of the transformation of the whole area had to be followed in order to find a new use for the tram depot building. The first step by QARTA ARCHITEKTURA was to consider the unequal spatial and vertical characteristics, in comparison to the whole waterfront tract, and to specify new limits, such as development boundary or building height. The next step determined new uses and typologies best suited for the re-activation of the area, and their spatial distribution. Finally, the authenticity of existing structural and architectural elements was put under scrutiny. The ultimate goal for the building was to become a living part of the organism of the city, so keeping and restoring historical architectural elements had to bring added benefits.