Construction in Letňany will be gradual, the architects are alleviating the concerns of residents and town halls
“For now, we only have a glimpse of the territorial study, which examines the capacity of the brownfield. The important thing is that there will not only be apartments, but also some job opportunities created on the spot,” says Cigler about the project, whose investor is the Odien Group.
Are the concerns of the people of Letňany and neighboring districts about the planned construction justified?
I don’t think they are. anyway, the negative ones in the territory are compensated by the positive ones.
Have you talked to local citizens? Do you know their opinion about the project?
During the last years, we had many presentations and very thoroughly prepared studies. The most common concerns people have are related to traffic. But the whole issue is a little more complicated – it also depends on the investor’s agreement with the city districts. And in this case, the municipality is also in the triangle. Petr Hlaváček, Deputy Mayor for Territorial Development, also took part in some of the meetings. He supports our project. His team is preparing the contract, and the developer Odien Group is still coordinating its concrete form with the city – these are so-called contributions, i.e. funds that the investor pays to the city and can be used, for example, for the construction of infrastructure. Before that, negotiations are still ongoing with the city districts, and they still have their own requirements. To make it not easy, the city districts do not match the shape of the project. It is a very difficult situation for an investor. To please someone means not to please two others.
How do you manage to find compromises between everyone involved?
So far, we only have a glimpse of the territorial study, which examines the capacity of the brownfield. It is important that there will not only be apartments, but also job opportunities created on the spot. In our opinion, it should be possible to place, for example, non-disruptive production in this part of the city. The point is that people can work and live there and not burden the transport infrastructure in the vicinity.
Do you also count on office space?
Housing versus offices will be about 60 to 40, but it is not strictly given yet – we expect some flexibility. Maybe the economic situation will affect the project.
But where is it guaranteed that if people move here, they will find work here or somewhere in the neighborhood and will not burden the transport infrastructure?
This is not guaranteed. But it is important that such a possibility arises at all. The fact that we now have an overloaded transport infrastructure is the result of poor spatial planning in the past. When the housing estates were built, there were almost no job opportunities. Some kind of functional division of the city was well-intentioned, but currently it no longer works and has caused a whole host of problems, such as unimaginable traffic jams all over the world. Cities are living organisms. Designers often predetermine the area for something, but life often wants something else.
Architect Jakub CiglerThe architect was born in Prague in 1960 and decided on his field at the age of twelve. “My dad is a glass sculptor and my mom was a painter. They worked a lot with architects, so I’ve seen them at work since I was a kid,” says Cigler. He later studied architecture at the Czech Technical University in Prague. He collaborated with the architectural studio Future Systems in London and directly with its founder Jan Kaplický. He is the author of the Visionary project in Prague 7 and the Radio Free Europe building. or indoor sports fields. Thanks to this, the industrial character of the original Avia will be preserved. The aforementioned twelve thousand people who would perhaps start living or working there are really out of sight. It is also important for the city to build other infrastructure in the vicinity in addition to the mentioned communication, which was taken care of by the developer. However, the project already has a good connection to the railway, the stop is a short distance from the site and it takes fifteen minutes to get to the center by train. Rail transport is possible in this location in the coming days. They will also go to the Avie campus by tram. |
But let’s go back to Letňany…
The zoning change hasn’t even been approved yet, so construction is still a long way off. The project is expected to have a capacity for up to 12,000 residents. However, we have a schedule for the development, how it could be gradually created. The first phase will be in 2025 or 2026. First, a road link between Kostelecká and Veselská will be built, which will ease the traffic in Letňa. It will be a new communication that will not burden Čakovice Letňana. This was also a big concern of the town hall, and they know something similar from the days when the Avie area was passable. Only after the completion of the mentioned communication will the first development be continued. It will initially only be for 585 residents in 325 apartments. The original intention was that this would be created sometime around 2025, but since it was determined, nothing happened for two years. The whole project therefore has a slippage. It is now estimated that there will be 954 inhabitants by 2030. In 2040, one school with two kindergartens would already be built. Schools can be built in five places, kindergartens. We do not want families moving here to strain the capacity of local schools and nurseries.
Who will pay for the construction of new schools and kindergartens?
It will depend on how the developer agrees with the city district.
When is the construction of the entire area expected?
The entire area will not be used until sometime between 2045 and 2050. But some existing industrial halls will remain there, for example for a market or an indoor sports field. Thanks to this, the industrial character of the original Avia will be preserved. The aforementioned twelve thousand people who would perhaps start living or working there are really out of sight. It is also important for the city to build other infrastructure in the vicinity in addition to the mentioned communication, which was taken care of by the developer. However, the project already has a good connection to the railway, the stop is a short distance from the site and it takes fifteen minutes to get to the center by train. Rail transport is possible in this location in the coming days. They will also go to the Avie campus by tram.
Do you already know a layout of apartments according to their size? For example, there is talk of a growing trend of so-called singles – this could mean a greater demand for studio apartments.
For now, we expect a balanced ratio of apartments of different sizes. This means that the majority are 2+kk and 3+kk, on the contrary, 1+kk and 4+kk will be in the minority. But it may also happen that it will be necessary to build new student dormitories and buildings for pensioners. On the contrary, in Letňany, it is unlikely that units that would be used for accommodation through Airbnb would be sold there.
Will it be some more luxurious apartments?
We expect that there will be units created here that will be more available at a lower cost, at the same time we are not talking about any social housing. If there will be plastic windows, for example, I can’t say yet.
How will parking be resolved?
In this regard, we must mainly follow the Prague building regulations. However, I am a supporter of building apartment buildings without a garage, for example for people who decide not to have a car. Unfortunately, this is not yet legislation.