Henning Larsen wins feasibility study for major new concert hall in Prague

In collaboration with our client, the Institute of Planning and Development of the Capital City of Prague, we will conduct an analysis of all aspects of Prague's new concert hall. Led by a data-driven design approach, the feasibility study will be built upon a high degree of client, stakeholder, and user involvement. Based on the conclusions of the study, the city hopes to bring back the cultural center of Prague with a new concert hall.

"We are proud to be able to work with Prague to develop an analysis of the feasibility of the new concert hall. Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, a place rich in history and culture, and it is a great honor to contribute to this heritage,” says Jakob Kurek, Partner at Henning Larsen.

One of the foremost goals of the Vltava Philharmonic will be to revitalize the area of Holešovice Bubny-Zátory. As large parts of this area are not present in regulated public use, it exists outside of the minds and habits of Prague’s citizens. With the addition of a new concert hall, the city's intention is to develop a new city district and a cultural center that attracts local visitors and tourists to the capital.

“The Dancing House cannot be the only bit of modern architecture in Prague. We have no intention of turning our city into an open-air museum. I would love to see more world-renowned buildings built here. I believe that the new concert hall could be one of them,” said Zdeněk Hřib, Mayor of Prague.

Henning Larsen has extensive experience with developing and designing vibrant and flexible frameworks for cultural institutions—   where the building becomes an active part of the city space and life— including the Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Center in Reykjavík, Uppsala Concert and Congress Hall in Sweden, and The Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen.

 “We create cultural buildings with unique abilities to generate identity for people and cities. By staging the cultural institution as an active, vibrant element in the city, we seek to create a gathering point that reaches out to its surroundings,” says Jakob Kurek.

“The prestige and experience of the consortium led by Henning Larsen, with projects of a similar nature all over the world, serves as a guarantee for us that the elaborated analysis, which will help us with further decision-making, will be of a high quality. Not only does Prague need a modern concert hall, the city actually deserves it. We should try to repay the debt concerning several generations. However, we want to remain vigilant and that’s why we will first have a detailed analysis elaborated to see whether we should continue with further stages or not,” stated Petr Hlaváček, Deputy Mayor of Prague for Territorial Planning.

The feasibility study will be completed by the end of 2020 and will inform Prague City Hall’s final approval of the project.