Penta selected architects for the new terminal hall of the Florenc station in the competition

Prague - The new bus station terminal at the Florenc bus station in Prague will be designed by the UPSTRUCTURE studio for Penta Real Estate. The development company selected it in an architectural competition. Tomáš Weiss, the spokesperson for the company, announced this in a press release today. The company plans a complete transformation of the entire area between Masaryk Station and Florenc, including moving the station.

The station is to be shifted eastward to the current bus layover area. The existing terminal will be demolished, and a new one will be built in place of the parking lot near the Negrelli Viaduct. According to the company, this will be a temporary solution during the construction period, which could last another 15 to 20 years across the entire area.

"The new terminal is an important step in the gradual transformation of the area into a fully-fledged urban district connecting the center of Prague with Karlín," said Rudolf Vacek, director of Penta Real Estate. He added that the company appreciated the emphasis on sustainable materials and the possibility of future dismantling in case the terminal needs to be relocated to a new site that might arise from the planned traffic study of the city regarding the location of a central bus station.

According to the spokesperson, the new building will provide facilities for passengers, operational and administrative spaces, as well as supplementary services. The proposal also includes a solution for the public space around the terminal, including the use of the arches of the Negrelli Viaduct for community, cultural, or commercial activities. Plans indicate that an administrative block of buildings will be built on the site of the current station.

"The basic concept of the new bus station terminal is a simple, modular, and reconfigurable steel structure, into which independent modules for facilities and retail will be inserted," said architect Pavel Paseka from the winning study. He added that the standardized construction allows for changes in layout, easy dismantling, and future re-use.

Penta’s planned development on the brownfield site of approximately 44,000 square meters will connect Karlín with New Town, and according to previous information, it will offer 108,700 square meters of gross floor area. Four of the six blocks will be residential, one of which will include a hotel. The remaining two will be office buildings. According to earlier information, Penta plans to invest about 20 billion crowns in the new quarter. In cooperation with Prague, it announced an architectural competition for the appearance of individual blocks, selecting 15 studios from all over the world.

Penta has already built the office building Masaryčka on part of the land near Masaryk Station, which opened two years ago. City councilors approved two changes to the zoning plan last year, allowing for further construction. The first concerned the land near the station eastward, and the second related to the plot at Florenc including the bus station. Penta purchased this land, along with adjacent properties, in 2023. For the planned construction, the developer will provide the city council, Prague 1, and Prague 8 with contributions in the form of money or non-financial provisions totaling 304.2 million crowns. The agreements have been criticized by the Arnika association, which disapproves of the relocation of the station, among other issues.