Bratislava gets a new public space and park

Zaha Hadid incorporated the area’s only remaining memorial to the industrial age of Bratislava into the project.

Sky Park combines world-class contemporary living with a modern recreational zone.Sky Park combines world-class contemporary living with a modern recreational zone. (Source: Courtesy of Penta )

Bratislavans will have a new recreational zone with a children’s playground, sport pitches and a culture hub, which was designed in a renovated historical industrial building. All these will be part of the Sky Park project by Zaha Hadid Architects, which is making a former industrial zone into a new vibrant city centre zone in Bratislava.

SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement
SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement

Its unique design is fit for a minimally built-up area and thus enables the creation of a chill-out urban public park with extensive functional public spaces totalling more than 35 thousand square metres. These can be compared in size to the popular Medical Garden and the Presidential Palace park.

SkryťTurn off ads

“The function of parks and public green in the city is very important, and it must respond to real needs of the city. A city is not made only by its buildings but also by everything in between, from the functional and logistical point of view,” said Slovak architect Igor Marko, who lives in London and is devoted to planning solutions for public space. Marko collaborated on the design of the park.

The carefully designed park greenery will include a combination of micro-gardens and large green areas and fruit trees. A diverse natural biotope will thus be created in the city centre. Within its extensive space, there will be numerous leisure opportunities provided by a track, sport pitches, a dog park and a large children’s playground. Cosy cafes and stylish shops will also be featured in the development.

SkryťTurn off ads

Jurkovič’s heating plant

The only remaining memorial in the zone to Bratislava’s golden age of industry is the non-traditional functionalist building of the heating plant from 1944, designed by iconic Slovak architect Dušan Jurkovič. Zaha Hadid fully appreciated the importance of this building and sensitively incorporated the plant into the design. After reconstruction, this national cultural monument will serve cultural and social purposes.

“This well-known historical monument will act as a catalyst for active use of the public space,” said Miroslav Hrušovský, senior development manager at Penta.

For more information on the project, please visit www.skypark.sk.

Top stories

Two bear incidents over weekend, an effort to revive Bratislava calvary, and storks in Trnava.


Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


SkryťClose ad