Vsehrdova Residence, nestled in a quiet street at the edge of Kampa Park, provides the excitement of city living in a peaceful environment.
With its exceptional views of Prague Castle, Petrin Park and Kampa Park as well as the Vltava River and the Charles Bridge, Vsehrdova Residence is close to all necessary amenities including schools, restaurants, shops and the nearby Novy Smichov Shopping Center. It is also easily accessible both by car and public transit.
The goal of the Project is to renovate the building to a luxury standard while still preserving its historical charm. The reconstruction of the building will include a complete renovation of the facade, the installation of a new larger lift, the implementation of an automatic parking system in the basement. The internal common areas will be renovated to a luxury standard while maintaining the historical features and will provide a large open reception on the ground floor.
In order to give our clients the flexibility to create their perfect living space, Vsehrdova Residence will offer large open areas, shell and core, high quality technical installations provided to the edge of each unit. All apartments can be additionally fitted out upon special request.
History,
The new renaissance tenant building was erected pursuant to plans of Karel Fiala in the period 1893-94 by Ferdinand Korb (as a builder). From the dates of the plans we can assume that this is one of the very first own realizations of Karel Fiala from the period of his independent building practice (1893-98) before he was appointed as a member of the Prague Municipal Art-Workmanship Committee and Building Council.
The corner house is of a two-wing layout that was designed especially with regard to rational distribution of residential rooms in both wings of the building along the street and the adjacent supporting premises (kitchens, pantries, lumber-rooms and social facilities) including the main triple-wing stairway in the inner tract of the building.
The street neo-renaissance facades are quite rich in terms of their architectonic composition and top quality stucco decorations. In axis 4 of the facade in direction to Vsehrdova Street there is a house portal decorated by symbols of artistic works, fitted with engraved doors. The bottom windows are completed by vault-stones with satyr heads. Windows on 1st aboveground floor are also decorated by vault-stone under direct cornice. In the buttress there is a balcony with baluster railing.
In the area of 2nd and 3rd aboveground floors there is fair-face brickwork while buttress is lined by rusticated “piedroits” and internal “piedroit” rim. Two fields of mirror vaults with internal stucco rim cover vestibule and front wall vault under dentil They separate curves of the blind arcade with cartouche in the top of funicular arch and laurel branches in wedge. Above entries to flats there are supra-ports with frieze of grid ornament under flat cornice and cartouche in between of garlands with rose.
Architect Karel Fiala (1862 – 1939)
Karel Fiala belongs to one of the more important personas of the Czech architecture scene from the turnover of the 19th and 20th centuries. Until 1918, Fiala was a “k.u.k. Baurat” – an Imperial Build Advisor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire awarded for many of his works, i.e. with the Golden Medal on the Prague’s Architecture and Engineering Fair in 1898. His company Karel Fiala & Ferdinand Korb built eleven tenant art nouveau houses in Prague, as well as refurbished some of Prague sacral architectural monuments. Fiala’s most renowned period was the collaboration with the famous Josef Mocker with whom he finished the famous St. Vithus Cathedral – the dominant of the Prague Castle.
Karel Fiala as born in Blatna, South Bohemia in 1862 into a Czech family. After absolving six semesters of Realgymnasium in Písek, in 1877 Fiala entered the First Austrian Build Academy – “Erste osterreichische hohere Baugewerbeschule” – in Vienna and remained a student there until 1881 while at the same time gaining his first building experience with company “Buldr &Sterba Praha”.
Already then, Fiala was attracted by Prague’s architectonical monuments, especially churches, many of which he made sketches and drawings. By his activities, he engrossed the famous architect Josef Mocker, who offered him a position in his office in 1886. The collaboration of these two lasted for thirteen fruitful years, until 1889. Fiala participated – among other – on most of Mocker’s ambitious projects; adaptation of the St. Vithus Cathedral in Prague and St. Barbara Cathedral in Kutna Hora or re-gothization of the Karlstejn Castle near Prague.
In 1890, Karel Fiala conducted the architectural test that opened him the doors to independence. In this period, he restored the sv. Apolinar Church and erected eleven tenant houses, among others the house at Vsehrdova 5. His future plans were also to restore churches in his hometown of Blatna and in Cerkevice but these were never realized due to the breakout of the First World War.
After the creation of independent Czechoslovak state, Fiala entered the Unity for completion of the St. Vithus Cathedral, where he collaborated with another famous Czech architect Kamil Hilbert. In 1920, Fiala became a clerk of the Prague Castle Office as its chief builder. He was assigned as a chief supervisor during the security works and architectural and historical survey of the Old Royal Palace. He collected a fair amount of archeological objects that outstandingly document the construction and evolution of the Prague Castle complex. In the 1930′s Fiala became and independent researcher of the historical and architectural timeline of the Prague Castle, which agenda also contained documentation as well as scale modeling. Fiala worked on a complex publication „Sources to study of history of the Prague Castle“ which unfortunately due to his death was never finished. Karel Fiala died in Prague on 3rd April 1939 in 76 years of age.
Ferdinand Korb, the Master Builder of Malá Strana
Ferdinand Korb was a renowned master builder (“zednicky mistr”) of Prague. Based in Mala Strana, Korb participated on constructions and refurbishments of some of famous Prague’s monuments, i.e. the Powder Tower. He collaborated with Karel fiala in some his tenant houses projects – one for the entire house at Vsehrdova 5.
- Vera Strnadova, prom. Hist – Pisemna pozustalsot stavitele Karla Fialy. 1891-1939. Archiv Prazskeho hardu