Open Call: Vltava Philharmonic Hall

Published on August 31, 2021

The City of Prague has launched an architectural design competition for the Vltava Philharmonic Hall in the latter half of August. This building will become a new city landmark, a heart of a future new municipal district. The Vltava Philharmonic Hall will also launch and accelerate the transformation of one Prague’s largest brownfields: the Bubny-Zatory redevelopment zone for which it will provide a new urban centre. The construction of the Vltava Philharmonic Hall will perpetuate Prague’s international reputation as a cultural capital.

The main concert hall will be The Vltava Philharmonic Hall’s soul. Next to this, there will a chamber-cum-multipurpose hall and other spaces for smaller events. Built around a music library, this area of the building will have rehearsal rooms, teaching areas, and studios. Naturally, the complex will have a restaurant, a café and various other refreshment facilities. The building will include a creative hub.

The Vltava Philharmonic Hall will have two resident orchestras: the Czech Philharmonic and the FOK Prague Symphony Orchestra. Outdoor public space, which will offer opportunities to meet, rest or host various sorts of activities and events, will be integral to the whole project. All this combined will make the Vltava Philharmonic Hall a cultural centre that will be vibrant 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, attracting a wide range of visitors.

As the Vltava Philharmonic Hall will have to meet contemporary standards in its technical, urban development and architectural parameters, the winning study must place a stress on delivering a flawless spatial and visual design with top-class acoustics in the concert halls. Needless to say, the sustainability of operations is an aspect that must not be overlooked.

The 4ha plot earmarked for the Vltava Philharmonic Hall is located within Prague’s broader centre on the bank of the Vltava, thus naturally continuing the tradition of placing prominent buildings alongside the river. The site is well served by transport links, a factor which is both an advantage and a challenge for the teams participating in the competition. The project must integrate all local thoroughfares and interlock them harmoniously with the public space surrounding the building.

Candidates may send in their portfolios from the second half of August until 30 September. The deadline for applications is 3 pm local time. In total, 20 tenderers will be competing: in October, on the basis of the portfolios submitted, an international jury will pick out 15 teams that – with a further five directly approached candidates – will be invited to draw up architectural designs for the Vltava Philharmonic Hall. Pre-registration for the competition is already open via the contracting authority’s profile.

The winning design will be announced in spring 2022. The competition prizes are worth approximately EUR 707,500.

For more information, please visit the competition website.

Download the information related to this competition here.