Eva Jiricna, Richard Meier, and John Pawson to contribute to new Czech residential project

The practices of Eva Jiricna, Richard Meier, and John Pawson will take part in an international collective of 10 firms who will contribute to the scheme of Oaks Prague, a new residential development near Prague in the Czech Republic.

Masterplanned by EDSA with Chapman Taylor and John Thompson & Partner, the development will include an apartment block by Meier, a mixed-use scheme from Pawson, and a traditionally inspired villa from Jiricna's native Czech firm AI Design.

Designed to complement its scenic site, the scheme -- which Czech-based Arendon Development Company is managing -- will feature a new village center with 220 residential units of different typologies.

As of now, the project is scheduled to break ground this September.

The three practices will work alongside a team of young architecture practices, who were selected through a competition organized by Malcolm Reading Associates, which is designing a series of homes as part of the wider development. The team includes Czech practices ADR, AI Design and Cigler Morani working alongside UK-based practices Coffey Architects, Duggan Morris Architects, Eldridge Smerin, Hall McKnight, Haptic, John Pardey Architects and McGarry-Moon Architects.

More details about Meier's, Pawson's, and Jiricna's projects below.

"Richard Meier & Partners Architects has contributed designs for an apartment building comprised of several clustered structures with varying elevations in response to the site’s undulating topography. Oriented towards the village’s 9-hole golf course, the Frontline Apartment Building accommodates residential units with fully glazed eight metre wall-to-wall spans, as well as a fitness well-being centre with an indoor pool."

"'The work which we have done in the Czech Republic began over ten years ago with the design of the master plan of the Pankrác Plain, which included the construction of the “City” project,' said Richard Meier. 'Applying local materials and combining a modern and contemporary aesthetic, the architecture will be visually refined and contextually sensitive. We expect that the Frontline Apartment Building and the villas which are a part of this complex will promote the ongoing influence of Czech architecture to the world.'"

"Adjacent to the Frontline Apartment Building is a low, gabled villa designed by Czech architect Eva Jiřičná, which interweaves modern architecture and Czech tradition. In partnership with Prague's AI-Design, Jiřičná's villa is massed in three main volumes, with a titanium zinc sheet clad roof and a façade rendered in white stucco. To create a living environment that caters to a family that plans to grow and evolve at Oaks Prague, the house includes a range of open and private spaces. The eastern wing of the home accommodates a large communal living area with a full-height attic ceiling and suspended mezzanine, which can act as private office space. Other private spaces in the home include a wine cellar, basement and gym, which are each connected by a glass footbridge."

'It is a privilege to contribute to this unique development in my home country and to be part of such a dynamic team of designers. With Arendon's aspirations for Oaks Prague in mind, we have designed a villa that will provide families with the space to plant their roots for decades to come,' Eva Jiřičná said."

"At the centre of the Oaks Prague village is a scheme designed by the British practice John Pawson Ltd, which responds to the rich history of the site by integrating a 19th century Chateau and farmstead into a new mixed-use complex. Comprised of a hotel, spa, restaurant and club house, the design reinstates the chateau’s original courtyard form by reconstructing two barns and a new-build concrete structure. In order to create a coherent visual language for a scheme that combines restored, rebuilt and new-build structures, John Pawson Ltd has allocated materials that respond to traditional building techniques, such as lime render and mortar-filled rubble."

"John Pawson said:  'I’ve been working in the Czech Republic for more than a decade and a half. Over the years you develop a strong sense of connection with a place. It’s exciting to have this new opportunity to make a piece of architecture that brings together contemporary and historic elements.'”