UBM Development Czechia has completed the reconstruction of the more than 100-year-old former Cukrovarnicky Palace on Senovážné Square in the centre of Prague. The 176-room five-star Andaz Prague hotel will open in the historic building, marking the Hyatt chain’s entry into the Czech Republic. The hotel will be put into trial operation in early 2022.
After the completion of the approval process, the interior fit-out of the Andaz Prague hotel will now be installed. At the same time, restoration work on this listed building is being completed. The completion of the ground floor rental units is also underway, where, for example, a Fio Bank branch and a Relay store will be built.
"Andaz Prague is our largest investment in the Czech Republic in the nearly 30-year history of UBM and we have already completed a number of large and demanding projects in the Czech Republic, such as the Anděl City mixed-use complex in Prague 5. We are very pleased that the Hyatt chain has chosen our project for its entry into the Czech Republic. The Hyatt Group considers locations very carefully: it has only four hotels in Europe - in Vienna, Munich, London and Amsterdam. Prague will be the fifth," says Josef Wiedermann, Managing Director of UBM Development Czechia.
"In the realization of the Andaz Prague hotel, we are mainly using our experience from the reconstruction of the historic building from 1897 on Zvonařka Street in Prague's Vinohrady district into the luxury hotel Le Palais Art Prague. As the building of the original Cukrovarnicky Palace on Senovážné Square is a cultural monument, our design team worked with it extremely sensitively. For example, we preserved the original windows, doors, stucco decoration and fireplaces in the hotel. We worked closely with the conservationists during the reconstruction. The historical value of the building with its authentic atmosphere has thus been preserved while adapting it to the contemporary lifestyle," explains UBM architect David Lukas, adding: "Of course, in the project (even though it is a renovation) we are also living up to UBM's motto 'green, smart and more' with an emphasis on ecological and sustainable elements. For example, we use natural materials as much as possible: solid wood floors are an example. On the flat roofs in the courtyard, we have planted extensive greenery to help mitigate the urban heat island effect."
In addition to luxury accommodation, the hotel will also include a fitness and wellness centre, catering facilities and 450 sqm of event space. The original boardroom of the Sugar Millers' Association, located in the bridge leading to the Jindřiška Tower, will become a stylish conference room.
In the building of the former Sugar Factory Palace in the centre of Prague, the Sugar Factory Association had a monumental palace in neoclassical style built in the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1912-1916) according to the design of architect Josef Zasche and sculptor Franz Metzner. Already at that time, the building became a prominent landmark of the square. After the Second World War, it served various purposes, and after 1989 it was owned by the bankrupt Investment and Postal Bank. Since 1993 the palace has been a listed building. Since then, it changed hands several more times until UBM came along and decided to give it a new lease of life.
