Top Tower to top them all

Top Tower is to be located on a new 1 km pedestrian zone on the Pankrác plain that runs between the Nové Butovice and Hůrka metro stations through Sluneční náměstí square. The building, which will mainly contain rental apartments, has been designed by architect Tomáš Císař of Prague studio Black n’ Arch as well as world-famous artist and sculptor David Černý. According to the first estimates for the project, investment costs will come to CZK 2 bln (app. EUR 77.5 mln).

The main tower, which will be 125m in height, will feature a taller structure embedded in its side and through the tower’s pedestal section. This resembles a rusting shipwrecked tanker intended to symbolise impending environmental disaster, while the plants growing through it are to represent nature reclaiming human creation as its own. A lift will run through the structure providing public access to the top and the main tower’s roof garden. Shops and services are to be situated on the ground and first floors, while the pedestal section will contain offices, a multifunctional cultural centre, and will also have a roof garden.

Local developer Trigema, which is aiming for LEED ‘Gold’ certification for the building, has yet to reveal if it has received any permits for the development, but hopes to begin the construction work in 2021.

“We have been preparing the Top Tower project for more than two years, with the final version having been arrived at after eight other alternative designs had been drawn up. During this time, we have collected and are still collecting input from experts, state and local authorities, and, of course, local residents, whose representatives have already been and will continue to attend a number of public consultations,” comments Marcel Soural, the chairman of the board of Trigema.

The current tallest building in the Czech Republic is AZ Tower in Brno, at 111m.