DATA
Name / Parkhill
Project phase / open urban design/architectural competition  – winner
Location / Budkova cesta, Bratislava
Date /  November 2012
Authors / Nice architects s.r.o., www.nicearchitects.sk , info@nicearchitects.sk 
                 Tomáš Žáček, Soňa Pohlová, Igor Žáček
                 + 2ka landscape architects

TEXT
Imagine former site of old outdoor amphitheatre virtually unsuitable for residential development. Terrain too steep for comfortable traffic, sloping northward preventing proper insolation. On the other hand it is offering spectacular views on Bratislava and proximity of one of the oldest park in Bratislava.

This 52 000 m2 site happened to be a stage of most recent urban design/ architectural competition in Slovak republic. Assignment was to create intensive residential development with public services located in the lower part of the site. One of the requirements was to preserve V-shaped Chestnut garden leaving the rest of the site for further development.

We distributed proposed volume  along the edges of the site. It helped to solve insolation problem and gave us opportunity to place underground garages along the edge of the site leaving heart of the zone for grandiose and green public space connected with adjacent Chestnut garden. Residential houses were designed essentially as rowhouses with flexible floor plan and set of various facades. Inspiration for them can be traced to modern villas from 30ties which  and 50ties present in the neighbourhood. This idea helped to create architecture characterized human scale, local connection and variety of public spaces.

Final composition of the buildings is also serving as small reminiscence of the former amphitheatre.