MVRDV and NACO to Design Václav Havel Airport Prague New Buildings

The design proposal for three new airport buildings by MVRDV Netherlands-based architecture and urban design practice prepared in cooperation with NACO (Netherlands Airport Consultants) won the Prague Airport architectural competition. The design extends Terminal 1 with a new building for central security screening, business areas, and VIP lounges. A building comprising a hotel, conference centre, and parking facilities will be constructed in the public part of the airport. The new buildings will provide the airport with enhanced operational flexibility and additional options to easily accommodate any future expansion and redevelopment.

According to Jiří Kraus, Vice-chairman of the Board of Directors, working with a globally active architecture studio represents for Václav Havel Airport Prague a promise of building world-class architecture with emphasis on sustainability. “The competition attracted extraordinary interest among architects, including foreign ones. The object of the Terminal 1 centralised security screening point, together with the partially developed solution for the Terminal 2 expansion, will become the cornerstone of a large-scale mosaic of a strategically important project; the project of completing the terminal capacity building process.”  

MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas acknowledged that most airport experiences these days have become detached from any sense of place, or any sense of control for the traveller. “At Prague this will soon be different. Passing through security screening, you will be surrounded by the greenness of the Czech landscape – in the ceiling, which will show it, and in the courtyards nearby with characteristic plants from the Czech biotope. The experience will provide you with a sense of calm and control… a moment to feel grounded, just before you take off. Coming back to the Czech Republic, it will give you a sense of homecoming.”

Other teams awarded in the Prague Airport architectural competition were the local Studio Perspektiv in cooperation with the Norwegian architects of Nordic Office of Architecture and the office of Aulík Fišer architects.