DISCOVER LIFE IN A NEW
DISTRICT IN KARLOVY VARY

A new urban district is taking shape on the long-disused site of a former brewery. The Nové centrum Rybáře project delivers not only new housing, but above all the public spaces that can give one of the largest parts of Karlovy Vary back its natural center and a new quality of everyday life.

Architects Janica Šipulová and Martin Sládek of the CONSEQUENCE FORMA studio have long focused on projects that go beyond the scale of individual buildings. Alongside architecture itself, what interests them most is the quality of the environment in which people live. They gained their experience in Vienna, among other places, where they contributed to the design of new urban districts and large-scale urban ensembles. It was there that they developed an approach that sees housing not merely as a collection of buildings, but as an interconnected whole of public spaces, services, schools, parks, and places for everyday encounters.

After returning to the Czech Republic, they set out to bring this experience back home. The Nové centrum Rybáře project became one of the opportunities to develop this way of thinking in close cooperation with the city, the Karlovy Vary City Architecture Office, and other partners. From the very beginning, it was therefore seen not merely as a design for new development on the former brewery site, but as an opportunity to contribute to the growth of the entire district.

Although Rybáře is one of the largest and liveliest parts of Karlovy Vary, it has long lacked a real center – a place that brings together the everyday life of its residents and offers a natural space to meet. It was from this observation that the central idea of the entire design emerged: the creation of a new square.

The square is designed as the natural heart of the new district. It is not a formal space reserved for special occasions, but a place for everyday life. For the morning walk to school, a coffee on the terrace, running errands, catching up with neighbors, or unwinding after work. The active ground floors of the surrounding buildings house shops, services, and other functions that bring activity and life into the public space throughout the day.

Equally important was removing the barrier that the former brewery still represents in the area today. The design completes the network of streets, paths, and public spaces, reconnecting parts of the city that have been separated for decades. The new streets pick up on the surrounding urban grain and are designed with a strong focus on safe, comfortable movement for pedestrians. Wide sidewalks, tree-lined streets, and calmed traffic create an environment where people, not cars, come first.

The urban structure takes its cues from the character of the surrounding fabric. Toward Sokolovská street it picks up the urban character with a more compact perimeter-block development of mixed-use buildings with an active ground floor. Toward the existing family houses the scale gradually steps down, transitioning into townhouses and single-family homes. The new district therefore does not stand apart as a stand-alone development, but reads as a natural extension of the existing city.

The landscape is an integral part of the design as well. On the slope above the site there is room for a future park that can offer playgrounds, sports facilities, and places for rest and everyday recreation. At the same time, it creates an important link between the new district and the surrounding landscape and leaves space for the future development of pedestrian routes and connections across the area.

The first phase of the project marks the first step in the transformation of the entire area. Together, the apartment buildings shape the new square and set the character of the future district. Active ground floors bring services and everyday life into the public space, while the buildings themselves offer a varied mix of homes for individuals, couples, and families.

The architectural design is driven by the ambition to create high-quality, long-term sustainable living. The emphasis is on ample daylight, natural ventilation, a connection to the outdoors, and overall everyday comfort. The variety of apartment layouts is rounded out by smaller residential buildings and family houses that pick up on the surrounding residential fabric. The different scales and forms of housing reflect the diversity of the city itself and lay the groundwork for a lively, socially mixed district.

„We do not see Nové centrum Rybáře as a collection of individual buildings. We see it as an opportunity to create a new part of the city that will naturally serve its residents and the generations to come."

Nové centrum Rybáře is not being built as a collection of individual buildings, but as a new part of the city. A part of the city that brings life back to a long-disused site, creates a new heart for the district, and weaves housing, public space, and landscape into one functional whole. The ambition of the project is not simply to build new buildings, but to create a place that will be a natural part of Karlovy Vary for generations to come.