Prague 6 rejects the villa that Matragi wants to build in Ořechovka

Parcela

Prague - The leadership of Prague 6 disagrees with the design of the villa that the Matragi Design company, led by designer Blanka Matragi, wants to build in Ořechovka on the site of the demolished house. According to the city hall, the proposed building is taller than the surrounding buildings, lacks the regulated roof slope typical for Ořechovka, and does not comply with the land coverage coefficient. This was reported today by Prague 6 spokesperson Adam Halmoši in a press release. Blanka Matragi disagrees with the opinion of Prague 6, claiming that she discussed the house's design with conservationists and describing the city's approach as "shocking", she told ČTK.
    According to the local government, the company submitted a request for a statement on a supplementary building to the city hall. "However, in the request, which was supposed to be for the purposes of a supplementary building permit, a statement is requested for a new single-family house. It is not possible to retroactively permit an entirely new building," Halmoši stated.
    The original villa, which was located in a listed zone, was demolished by the company without permission in December 2013. The company had permission for the reconstruction of the house, but instead, they razed the entire villa to the ground. For this, the company received a fine of 150,000 crowns from the city hall, which the magistrate eventually revoked and returned for further discussion.
    According to the city hall, the design of the new house does not correspond to the architectural character of the Heritage Zone Villa Colony Ořechovka. The reason is that the building exceeds the surrounding houses by one floor, lacks the typical character of a roof, and exceeds the maximum possible land coverage. Furthermore, in the proposal, it allegedly designates the exceeding floor as an attic, which is considered by officials as a regular floor by law.
    Blanka Matragi disagrees with the office's opinion. "I am surprised that it got into the media before reaching us. We are in shock. We consulted everything with the conservationists for half a year and adjusted the house's design according to their requirements. I do not want to build a house in the style of so-called entrepreneurial baroque, but a unique structure of the third millennium, which after my death will serve people; I am not building my family house," Matragi told ČTK.
    The designer also rejected, for example, the city hall's criticism that the house did not have the correct roof slope. "We even gradually made it more sloped than we originally proposed. Our architect discussed everything with the conservationists. I am shocked by the functioning of the city hall as well; we submitted the proposal to them, and it took them 3.5 months to respond in this way, and moreover, within a few hours," she said. She wants to continue negotiations with the city hall about the design of the house.
    The case with the villa of Matragi Design is not the only one in Ořechovka. The company Altstaedter Investments, based in Prague 5, applied for a building permit in March last year for modifications to a family house on Západní street. However, in September, instead of remodeling, they demolished the villa. The building authority of Prague 6 imposed a fine on them in January, amounting to hundreds of thousands of crowns, which is not disclosed.
    Ořechovka is one of the most well-known and oldest villa districts in Prague, built between 1919 and 1929 with the participation of prominent architects.