Secondary schools in Prague are facing a shortage of places, and pressure on their capacities is growing every year. According to current Cermat data, the capital lacks capacity for new applicants. The architectural studio Upstructure has decided to respond to the problem and offers a concrete solution based on a data analysis of the area.
Demographic development and migration of residents to Prague and its surroundings are causing the current secondary school infrastructure to be unable to meet demand. Although Prague is recording a decline in birth rates, the effect of population relocation persists and increases pressure on educational facilities. If the current trend is to be maintained, capacity will need to be increased by more than twenty new secondary schools.
The Upstructure studio therefore carried out a multi-criteria analysis of the area, which identified 51 plots suitable for the construction of new schools – 21 on municipal or state land, the rest on private land. The results of the analysis take into account the zoning plan, property relations, and access to public transport. An interactive map with marked locations is publicly accessible.
Architects point out that construction can be accelerated by using modular building systems. These allow not only rapid implementation, but also the possible future conversion of the building to another use if demand for school capacity declines. Alongside construction, however, they emphasize the need for a systemic solution from public administration. Private schools, which have been increasing in number in recent years, can help only partially.
“We want to give the city tools that will make it possible to act without unnecessary delay. We are able to substantiate the answer to the question of whether Prague has anywhere to build new schools with concrete data,” say architects František Bosák, Pavel Paseka, and Martin Žatečka from the architectural studio Upstructure.
UPSTRUCTURE is an architectural office founded in 2021 by Pavel Paseka, Martin Žatečka, František Bosák, and Jolana Bosák Macháčková after their previous long-term collaboration. They build on many years of experience from their own practices and from working in leading Czech studios. They are based in Prague’s Holešovice district, where a fifteen-member, multidisciplinary team of architects, designers, and data specialists works on projects of all scales and typologies. “Our goal is to design meaningful buildings, public spaces, and large urban complexes with regard to context, scale, and sustainability,” they say.
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