Mlýnský potok

Year2025

CategoryProjects

LocationOlomouc

StatusCompleted

Today an inner periphery, soon a new urban waterfront district. Šantovka District builds on the existing Galerie Šantovka shopping and social centre and extends the area with housing, culture, leisure, shops and offices.

We are working on the development of the site together with the British practice StudioN, addressing not only the new buildings themselves but also their relationship to the historic centre of Olomouc, the surrounding neighbourhoods, pedestrian and cycle routes and, above all, the Mlýnský potok millrace.

The key theme is transforming an area that is currently difficult to pass through into a lively part of the city with high-quality public space, new connections and direct contact with the water.

Client	REDSTONE REAL ESTATE, a.s.
Design team	Martin Krupauer Pavel Kvintus Martin Sedmák Andrej Kacera Lenka Baková
Landscape design	Anna Salingerová Ruby Pavoučková

The Waterfront as a New Urban Axis

One of the main principles of the design is to open up the banks of the Mlýnský potok millrace and create a continuous north–south pedestrian and cycle route. This route is intended to gradually connect the historic centre of Olomouc with the southern suburbs and, further on, with the landscape of the Morava valley.

The cycle path runs along the bank so as to minimise conflicts with car traffic without encroaching on the stream bed itself.

Public Space by the Water

A central public space will be created between the existing and the new shopping centre. Here we propose new access to the water and across it, the enhancement of greenery, a variety of activities on the waterfront and in the water, and a café with a children's playground.

The project also includes the restoration of a demolished weir and the creation of a canoe channel.

Although the building is unique in its dimensions, its roofscape adopts the scale & formal language of the surrounding historic buildings to which it relates. The starting point for the form and massing was the location, with the backdrop of the nearby mountain ridge, as well as vernacular local architectural principles. This was also reflected in the composition of the façade elements and in the way specific materials were handled.