RSBC Development Financing in cooperation with Masák & Partner plans to start a new residential development in the former ČKD factory in Prague Vysočany later this year. The original industrial building should be converted into 215 atypical two-floor apartments, i.e. lofts, within two years for CZK 2 billion (€81.6 million), writes E15.cz.
RSBC Development Financing wants to build a total of 215 two-floor lofts with a total area of 14,300 sqm in Prague's Vysočany district within two years. According to the daily E15.cz, the estimated investment is CZK 2 billion (€81.6 million). Masák & Partner Group together with RSBC Development Financing will start construction of Lofty Kolbenova by the end of the year. The architectural studio Masák & Partner, which specialises in the reconstruction of historic buildings, is the author of the design of the unconventional residential units.
"We enjoy this type of projects very much. The specifics of the original factory, such as high clear heights or large tract depths, are only an advantage for us. In this case, we have also managed to preserve a number of original artefacts that will be part of the interiors and architecture," Jakub Masák, the project's chief architect, told E15.cz.According to him, all the modifications will be carried out in such a way that the modernisation does not destroy the original design.
The original factory building in Kolbenova Street belonged to the Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk company, known as ČKD. The building on Kolbenova Street was mainly used to manufacture smaller machines, vacuum cleaners and dental equipment. The complex, which in 1989 employed fifty thousand people, gradually became a group of dilapidated buildings. Some of them have not escaped demolition, while the rest of Kolbenka is protected for its historical value.
