The Entrance Building in Čihadla Park

CTU in Prague - Faculty of Civil Engineering

Project idea

The subject of the diploma thesis was to design the entrance area to Čihadla park on Černý most, according to the already prepared urban design from the pre-diploma project. The area of Černý most consists mainly of residential buildings and civic amenities. The area is located in Čihadel area, which is made up of green and water areas.

The complex is formed by three stacked objects, each with a separate functional solution, the objects forming the border of the square and the entrance gate to the Olympic Park. As part of this work I will analyze in more detail the object A, ie the entrance gate, where the theater and music hall is located, the whole object is congress center. In buildings B and C are civic and commercial facilities. Everything is tailored to dual use - during the Olympics and beyond.

Project description

The basic concept of the urban conception of the Olympic Complex is the creation of a dominant perspective axis that connects three different centers of sporting activities and additional civic buildings. This perspective axis is also important for visitors, as Čihadla Park as such is quite extensive and confusing.
The entrance to the complex is accessible from all three sides and provides the convenience of spreading the crowd at the time of the Olympic Games. The main road is close to the swimming area and the sports hall from the entrance area. From there it continues to form a footbridge to the third center. The footbridge in this part is a line and serves as a lookout route. The footbridge ends at Kyjský Rybník, where it meets the associated pier by means of a ramp. Water sports activities will take place in this area during the games.

Thanks to contour lines, tennis courts and a semi-circle basketball court could be formed into the notches along the in-line track. The football field has stands with a capacity of 2000 spectators. At the same time, a large screen in front of the stands will be placed in the Olympics. In connection with the Čihadla park there is a large number of smaller parks and green areas. Furthermore, a large number of free areas, where it is possible to place stands and tents of individual sponsors and mainly tents for various sports disciplines. The whole area is designed for two main periods, the Summer and Winter Olympics. In winter, the in-line track will be artificially snowed and used for a 1.0 km biathlon route. The football stadium will be used as an ice hockey rink and a pressurized hall will be placed on the tennis courts and playground. There is also underground and above-ground parking. The front facade of the entrance building is made of white panels and is divided by cut joints, where ice tapes can be used to create lighting in the evening.

The entrance area of the Olympic Park on Čihady is directly linked to the main road of Ocelkova. The minibus will take visitors to the area during the Olympics. There is a bus stop outside the Olympic period.
After entering the gateway to the sports complex, the viewer encounters an in-line track that is designed at one height and is flat. Under this track, there is a street workout with EPDM safety damping surface and various exercise areas in the enclosed area. There is a staircase at the entrance gate that connects to the connecting tunnel between the entrance section and the rear section. This is followed by a cycle path. In winter, the steep slope will be used for downhill skiing. Today it is mainly used for sledding children. From the interconnection tunnel, the viewer can get into the changing rooms and then onto two smaller asphalt playgrounds.

The concept of the entrance area to the Olympic Park is the creation of an imaginary gate, thanks to three masses stacked together.

On the west side there is a basement walkway B with a squash center, the administration of the Czech Olympic Committee and an information center with retailers. Thanks to the contour line, this object is set in the basement on one side and forms the border of the entrance squares on the other. On the roof of building B, the visitor gets to building A where the congress center is located. Two congress halls and dominant foyers are designed here. Each foyer has one glazed side designed for lighting, but above all for a view of the surroundings. The glazed areas dominate the three sides of the building.

Object A is rising and thanks to its supporting columns above Object C it creates the impression of a levitating gate. Object C completes the entire entrance square, is slightly turned to pull the visitor further into the area. There is a public toilet with a restaurant on the 1st floor. On the 2nd floor there is a public library. In contrast to the gate, where large-format white panels are designed for solidity, the C-object is designed with a lightweight glazed cladding. Object B forms a compact mass and its facade is made of cast concrete.

Thanks to its versatility, the resort can offer a wide range of uses during periods when the Olympics are endless (which is most of the time). The entrance area will become a cultural and educational center.

Technical information

The entrance area consists of three buildings. Building B is located on the eastern side of the entrance area, building C is located on the western side of the complex and is set in a gentle slope. The main building A is located on buildings B and C, there is a congress center. Object C has a walkable roof that opens into the entrance of object A, while the second entrance is placed on the walkway roof of object B. The shape of the arrangement of objects creates a gateway to the whole area. The congress center is designed as a steel truss structure that is lined with white sandwich panels. Building B, where the library and restaurant is located, is a reinforced concrete skeleton with a light cladding. Object C is then reinforced concrete.

The Entrance building is divided into three functional parts. On the first floor in the eastern building B there is a restaurant and sanitary facilities, on the 2nd floor there is a library. On the roof of the building there is a walkway roof and the entrance road to the building A. In the building C on the 1st floor there is a squash center and retail stores, the 2nd floor is the administration of the Czech Olympic Committee, the 3rd NP is also the first NP of building A, in which there is a congress center with two halls.

Object A is designed as a lattice steel structure. The perimeter walls consist of a steel truss structure with a YTONG wall thickness of 300mm. Internal load-bearing walls are made of Porotherm 30 AKU P + D acoustic brickwork with a thickness of 300 mm with high absorption. Objects B and C are designed as masonry.

The roof is designed as flat, non-attic. The roof is in a slope of approx. 25 m and a leveling area is proposed where downpipes and drainage of rainwater are placed to prevent a rapid fall of rainwater from the roof.

In the whole building there are spaces with a high concentration of people, for which air treatment is proposed by air conditioning. Due to the nature of the operations, direct window ventilation cannot be used. Fresh air is forced through the HVAC piping.
The air treatment is carried out in the technical rooms in the air handling units located near the halls. A decentralized air-handling system is used, which makes it possible to modify the indoor air of individual rooms according to their own operational requirements.
Air handling units are equipped with heat recovery equipment, while the units are used for heating. Heating pipes are located under the auditorium in the floor of the halls, for preheating the air. The outlets of the transferred air are located about 3 meters above the ground in the hall walls. The air outlet is solved at the highest points of the halls.