The tallest building in the Czech Republic – AZ Tower in Brno
19 Apr 2011
On Wednesday 20th April at 1.30 p.m. the AZ Tower company will officially launch construction of the tallest thirty-storey building in the Czech Republic, the AZ Tower. This exceptional building will be built in the newly established South Centre, which has recently been dubbed Brno Manhattan. The PSJ Joint Stock Company, which has also participated in completing construction of the CITY TOWER building in Pankrác, currently the tallest building in the Czech Republic, is the general supplier of this construction work. Including its transmitter AZ Tower will be 2 metres taller than the currently tallest building, rising to a record-breaking 111 metres. The costs of the construction work will reach over 800 million crowns excluding VAT and completion is planned 25 months after work has officially been launched.
The building was designed by the Burian and Křivinka architectural office in Brno for the AZ Properity, s.r.o. Company, which will ensure complete management of the whole AZ Tower project in cooperation with PSJ. “We established initial contact with this company approximately a year ago. Constructive negotiations gradually resulted in our company joining this unique project as a minor investor. I believe that this triumphant return by PSJ to the construction market in Brno will be one of our most important realised construction projects,“ stated Ing. Jiří Pech, director of the PSJ, a.s. Ground Construction Division.
The architecturally bold building will rise up between Pražáková Street and Heršpická Street near the M-Palác building. The new dominant point in Brno will be made up of two blocks, with a tube containing a communication core – a staircase and elevator shafts – inserted between them. The whole project will offer its new owners over 17,000 m2 of retail, office and residential floor space, with parking for 265 cars on two under-ground floors. There will be an atrium with reception, shops, coffee shop, conference halls and archive on the ground floor and a restaurant will be established on the third floor. The top 6 floors will contain 12 apartments, with a luxury maisonette apartment with outdoor swimming pool on the 28th and 29th floors. Due to this concept all the apartments will be the most prestigious and highest located in the Czech Republic for a long time to come. The other floors in the building are intended for use as administrative and commercial areas. It is proposed that the adjoining building, which is part of the development, will house a complex of car salons, including car-servicing facilities for passenger vehicles and conference halls. This building will be topped off with an eight-storey tower, in which passenger cars will be exhibited.
Its height and the magnificent views of Brno and Pálava it provides will ensure the uniqueness and originality of the AZ Tower. At first glance you will notice the unusual angles and deformation of one of the facade blocks. The blocks will be faced with large glossy glazed tiles in two shades. The terracotta colour, reflecting the sun’s rays, will gradually transition into white, which will merge into the white of the clouds.
The technology used during construction of this skyscraper forms a whole new chapter. The building was designed as a energy-efficient building from the very first architectural studies. Thirty-metre deep power piles, which will be unique in the Czech Republic, will draw heat in the winter and cool the building in summer through use of a heat pump. The system combining natural and forced ventilation in offices and apartments is also unique. It is also planned that the whole facade of the elevator shaft, which has a total area of seven hundred square metres, will be covered in photovoltaic panels, which could serve as an electricity source and supply this electricity to the common areas of the building.
“We have before us an important milestone in the history of our company and also in the history of the town of Brno. We hope that we will improve the quality of the real property market by successful realisation of our project and that similar buildings to the AZ Tower will be built here. We would like to attract additional foreign investors to Brno and support the efforts of local companies to improve the conditions for investors and companies seeking interesting areas for their investments and business activities on the local real property market,“ said Ing. Jan Skoupý, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the AZ Tower, a.s. Investment Company.
