One of the most visible construction projects in Prague in the coming years will include a refurbishment of the iconic InterContinental Hotel and a major makeover its vicinity. Architect Marek Tichý from TaK studio publicly presented a possible new look of the hotel and the surrounding area. 

Dozens of Prague citizens attended the public presentation. They had an opportunity to fill in a questionnaire to evaluate individual parts of the projects. Architect Tichý said after the event that the initial response from the general public was mostly positive. “We focused on the currently rather unsightly public space in the first place. We would like to expand the space significantly, extending Pařížská Street and connecting it to Dvořákovo Embankment all the way to the river. Our main goal is to make the space attractive for the public. That is why the working title of the project is ‘Old-Town Gate’,” says architect Marek Tichý.

Early last year, Hotel InterContinental was acquired by R2G, an investment group owned by Czech billionaire financiers Oldřich Šlemr, Pavel Baudiš and Eduard Kučera. As of this year, the hotel is to be operated by Fairmont, a luxury hotel chain of the Accor Group that will carry out the refurbishment. The public space around the hotel is to be extended to create a new pedestrian zone including a tunnel leading through the embankment wall down to river Vltava. The authors of the project also promise to calm the traffic in the area and resolve chaotic parking on the piazzetta outside the hotel where a smaller commercial building is to be erected in line with the existing houses in Pařížská Street.

The iconic hotel is to open after the refurbishment under a new name referring to its Golden Prague Hotel restaurant.