Construction firm GEMO a.s. is contributing to the Dornych mixed-use development in central Brno, a project valued at more than seven billion Czech crowns. The scheme will transform a brownfield site formerly occupied by the Prior department store into a new urban district near the main railway station. Construction began in November 2024, with completion scheduled for the end of 2027 and the opening of retail and service units expected in the following months. Approximately 1.3 billion Czech crowns has been invested in the project to date.
GEMO has completed the demolition of the original structure, secured the construction pit and carried out extensive earthworks, and is now progressing with monolithic concrete construction across the entire site. "The scale of the earthworks was truly extraordinary. The construction pit alone covers 18,500 sqm and reaches a depth of 14.5 metres. The entire phase including pit securing and foundations took 15 months," said Michal Družbík, project manager at GEMO. The demolition phase removed more than 95,000 tonnes of material for recycling. The structure rests on 720 CFA piles between 15 and 25 metres in length, and the project incorporates 78 geothermal boreholes with a combined depth of 19.5 kilometres, each reaching 250 metres, which will serve the heating and cooling systems of all buildings.
One of the most technically demanding elements is the preparation of the substructure for a future metro or underground rail line beneath building F, which will house the hotel. "I consider the preparation for the future metro or underground railway beneath the Dornych project to be the most interesting part of our work. The hotel building is carried over the future tunnel by large prestressed wall beams without additional foundation structures," said Družbík.
The Dornych complex comprises six buildings connected by a shared three-level basement, offering 60,000 sqm of office space, 186 rental apartments and the NYX Hotel Brno with 170 rooms. Confirmed tenants include an EUC and Canadian Medical clinic occupying more than 6,000 sqm and Scott.Weber Workspace, described as the largest flexible workspace and co-working centre in the South Moravian Region with capacity for 600 workers. The complex is designed to meet LEED Platinum certification and EU Taxonomy requirements, incorporating solar panels, rainwater retention tanks, green roofs and geothermal energy systems. The client is Brno New Town Square, s.r.o., and the design was led by international planning and architecture studio MTDI, with Brno-based studio Arch.Design also involved.
At the heart of the complex is a partially covered public plaza of 25,000 sqm, featuring a canopy structure with ETFE foil to provide year-round public use. The site will be connected to the Vaňkovka shopping centre via an existing footbridge, and new north-south routes for pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles will improve movement between the city centre and the developing South Quarter.
