Our client has a keen eye for quality of life and sustainability, so the brief for the design of the Mississippi House and Missouri Park office buildings was clear. Designed with every conceivable consideration for human health and well-being at work, the quality of the buildings’ indoor environment is complemented by the outdoor environment – the garden.
Where else to recharge your batteries, enjoy a cup of coffee or recharge your inspiration than outside in the green? We have taken care of the mental health of those who work here and those who pass by by creating a park that connects the interior of the building with the neighbouring Vltava riverbank. Best of all, the entire space is open to the public.
The surroundings of the office buildings consist of a garden, a park, small sports fields and, if you wish, an open-air office… We have therefore created sub-spaces along the long facades of the buildings where one can find a bit of peace surrounded by lush greenery to relax in the fresh air by the river.
The pockets are lined with raised edges of handsome concrete, rusting steel and rough wooden blocks. The impression of ‘secret’ seating in the cosy embrace of greenery is enhanced by the landscaped mound on the riverside. The landscaping is planted with trees and separates the linear park from the busy cycle path that runs between the office complex and the Vltava River.
The green pockets differ from each other. They are designed as small rest rooms, places to sit alone, in pairs or quietly in a larger group. Unlike the surrounding all-paved areas of the office complex, each ‘room’ here in the park boasts a different carpet.
Cobblestones of chipped granite are interspersed with areas of flagstone, concrete and wooden patios. There’s something for everyone, so you can find exactly the place you feel like. Small, enclosed or, on the contrary, large and more accessible. You can walk quickly along the wide walkway along the glass facades, but you can also choose a side path connecting our green pockets. This quieter route is woven between two tracks that we have re-laid at this point as a reminder of the siding that perhaps once ran through these very places in the past. There is no such rush here, sitting on one of the benches is almost essential.
We are in a very accessible location for cyclists, runners, and lovers of other sports activities and passers-by accessible even by footbridge over the river.
So what does life look like in Riverside Karlín now? The park complements the entire ecosystem that has been built here. What was once a deserted place has become a sought-after part of the city – a new kindergarten in September, football at the River Rink in the summer and ice-skating in the winter. For morning coffee at the café, for a menu at the lunch restaurant, after work at the wine bar and on the way home to shop at the gourmet store. And more businesses are sure to come.