Czech practice Studio Acht has renovated the 19th-century provostry at St Vitus Cathedral in Prague, combining careful restoration with modern interventions.
Studio Acht has renovated the neo-Gothic New Provostry, which sits alongside the cathedral in the historic walled complex of Prague Castle and was originally designed by Czech architect Josef Mocker in 1877.
After being seized by both the Nazis and subsequently the Communist regime, the building was partially destroyed, and has stood largely abandoned since the 1950s.
The ownership of the New Provostry was returned to the church in 2016, which then tasked the studio with both restoring the surviving structure to host events and adding new visitor facilities.
Two new annexes containing a cafe and shop face one another on the footprint of a former stable and coachhouse, reinstating the form of a small courtyard at the centre of New Provostry.
“An important aspect of the spatial modelling of the new annexes was to complement the northern panorama of Prague Castle,” chief architect Václav Hlaváček told Dezeen.
“The task was not to disrupt this compact area of fortress-like character while opening it up to the Deer Moat.”
The treatment of the building’s original neo-Gothic exterior focused on its preservation and restoration, with the addition of a new slate roof.
Inside, Studio Acht combined the restoration of original elements with the insertion of modern upgrades that would allow it to host events, such as new heating, lighting and glass partitions.
“The facade was meticulously restored to evoke its appearance at the end of the 19th century,” explained the studio.
“The interiors were partially restored to their historical state while also being renovated to meet modern standards, resulting in a harmonious blend of contemporary and original features.”
Drawing on what the studio call the “timeless forms” of the existing building, the extensions are housed in two mono-pitched structures clad entirely in panels of sandstone from the Vyhnánov quarry.
The western extension overlooks the courtyard through a large ribbon window, and the eastern extension through a row of tall, narrow windows.
To the north of the site, a new outlook and fountain extends slightly beyond the site’s boundary wall, which Studio Acht designed based on an unrealised designed by Mocker.
Water flows from a cross at the top of a stone obelisk over the names of three saints and down into a basin, which has been edged in copper panels featuring a poem by one of the building’s former provosts.
Other projects recently completed in Prague include the renovation of an apartment for a sculptor and glassworker by Czech studio Neuhäusl Hunal, which is divided by curved, translucent glass screens.
The photography is by Tomas Slavik.
