Rest at Nisa’s. Liberec is building its embankment, inspired by Prague
This place used to be called Venice in Liberec. The river Nisa, which flows through the city center, was lined on both sides of the house. In the past, the city was proud of the drive of city mills.
They are long gone, leaving only the river sandwiched between the coastal walls. She was condemned to this by the Industrial Revolution and the development of textile factories, which turned Nisa over time into a sewer into which they discharged paint. But even that is no longer true, the factories have disappeared and the river is clean. The ideal time came to use its potential and give Liberec its first floodplain.
The Liberec Region, which announced an architectural competition years ago, is behind the project. The Prague studio re: architects won here. In addition to the embankment, it is also signed under the design of a new parking house and landscaping around the regional headquarters. “The whole project is very complex and the team it prepares is huge, with a lot of experts from different fields. We also processed, for example, aerodynamic assessments for the location of a new footbridge across the river and on the steps to the water. We also had a hard time enforcing the tree that is in those stairs, “says one of the architects of the studio, David Pavlišta.
The Liberec region, in turn, had to resolve the property settlement with the Elbe River Basin regarding the coastal walls. “Now we have bought a piece of the current wall and after completing the entire work of the River Basin District, we will transfer it free of charge,” explains the Governor of the Liberec Region, Martin Půta.
The region wants to apply for a zoning decision as soon as possible and then for a building permit. He could get it in the fall of this year. Then he starts to compete who will build the embankment, and also who will pay for it.
So far, it seems that the main and probably the only investor will be the region. “Náplavka will cost an estimated 120 million crowns and we are ready for it even at the cost of not getting a subsidy. It is an important project for us, “adds the governor.
People will go down the new stairs to the water, but they will only have access in one place, about seventy meters long. A new footbridge across the Nisa is to be included, which will connect to the entrance to the regional office building. There is also a children’s playground and a kiosk. “We want people to start perceiving Nisa in the city as something pleasant, relaxing, not as a barrier that is dirty and stinks. Prague and its embankment are the inspiration for this change, ”adds the architect.
The first of the whole project should start building a parking house this spring. 244 cars will be hidden in it and it will cost about 180 million crowns, of which the subsidy should cover about a third. In the second phase, it is the turn of the footbridge, embankment and cultivation around the regional skyscraper.
Liberec City Hall also wants to follow up on the region’s project. It plans to renovate part of the Nisa embankment in the vicinity of Na Rybníčku Street and Šolcova House, including the adjacent car parks. The promenade around the river and two new parks, which will be connected by a footbridge on both banks, could grow next year at the latest. The city expects investments of around forty million crowns.