Prague's historic Savarin district to be reimagined by Arab architect Omar Koleilat

Lebanese-Czech firm Crestyl Group will spearhead the 15,000-square-metre project, due to open in 2029

Prague’s historic centre will soon include a new development that will transform an entire inner block into a public destination. Photo: Crestyl Group

Known for its wealth of beautifully preserved architecture, Prague’s historic centre will soon include a new development that will transform an entire inner block into a public destination – blending restored Baroque buildings with contemporary design.

Reimagined by Czech-Lebanese architecture and development company Crestyl Group, the 15,000-square-metre Savarin project, located just off Wenceslas Square, will open up a long-closed courtyard complex. At its heart are the 18th-century Savarin Palace, a sunny yellow Baroque riding hall, and several other protected historic structures.

“It’s extremely rare to find such a unique and central site that hasn’t already been developed, particularly in a historic European city centre, which makes this project quite special,” Crestyl Group co-founder Omar Koleilat tells The National. “Although Savarin now sits in the middle of the city, it was originally the only Baroque palace outside the old city walls, separated by a ditch that later became Na Prikope Street.

“Baroque palaces typically had a first courtyard, a second courtyard, stables and then a riding hall, where horses could be exercised in winter,” he adds.

During the communist era, the complex was converted into a printing factory for a state newspaper. After 1989, it fell into disuse. “It was essentially a brownfield site,” Koleilat says. “We removed structures added during communist rule, while preserving the historic buildings.”

Czech-Lebanese architecture and development company Crestyl Group will spearhead the 15,000-square-metre Savarin project. Photo: Crestyl Group

Developed in close consultation with Unesco, the project will restore heritage architecture while integrating a new museum, gardens, cultural venues, shops, restaurants and a new metro station. The masterplan is designed by British architect Thomas Heatherwick, marking his first completed project in continental Europe.

Heatherwick’s recent work includes the transformation of a former desalination plant into Jeddah Central Museum and Abu Dhabi’s Al Fayah Park. At Savarin, his design introduces contemporary forms that contrast with the Baroque setting, featuring external staircases and buildings whose volumes rise and fall to echo Prague’s undulating terrain. Rooftop gardens and terraces will offer views across the city, while local materials, including red terracotta roof tiles, will help the new architecture blend into its surroundings.

The project will be threaded together by a network of passages, reflecting a defining feature of Prague’s urban fabric, alongside new gardens, fountains and a Time Out Market food hall.

Developed in close consultation with Unesco, the project will restore heritage architecture while integrating a new museum. Photo: Crestyl Group

“Prague is full of passageways that allow you to move from block to block, and we’re continuing that tradition,” Koleilat says. “The restored riding hall will become the centrepiece of the project. Beneath it, we’re building three floors underground that will connect directly to the metro, allowing visitors to step straight from the subway into Savarin. In a way, it will function like the Louvre Pyramid, with the riding hall acting as a foyer to the spaces below.”

The first phase of the project has already been completed, following a four-year restoration of Savarin Palace. The building now houses the Mucha Museum, which relocated there earlier this year. The museum presents a comprehensive survey of works by Alphonse Mucha (1860–1938), a defining figure of the Art Nouveau movement best known for his posters, commercial designs and richly detailed illustrations celebrating feminine beauty.

As part of the wider development, Heatherwick is also designing a new purpose-built museum for the Mucha Foundation beneath the riding hall. Once completed, the Mucha Museum will move underground, allowing a far greater portion of the foundation’s 11,000-piece collection to be displayed – most notably, The Slav Epic.

Painted between 1910 and 1928, The Slav Epic features 20 monumental canvases, each measuring six by eight metres, depicting the history of the Slavic people. Mucha gifted the series to the City of Prague in 1928, on the condition that a hall be built to display the works as he intended – a promise that was never fulfilled. Nearly a century later, the Savarin project will finally make that possible.

“Prague is one of the most beautiful and inspiring cities in the world, and my team and I felt a deep responsibility working on such a significant site,” Heatherwick says. “We’ve been profoundly inspired by The Slav Epic – its scale, intensity, richness and visceral use of colour.

The full Savarin project, including the new museum, is scheduled to open in 2029. Photo: Crestyl Group

“They’re like stained-glass windows,” he adds. “At Savarin, in the heart of historic Prague, we’re creating what feels like an underground cathedral. This isn’t an art museum in any conventional sense. We’re designing the architecture around these extraordinary paintings in the same way Gothic cathedrals were built around stained glass – allowing the building itself to become the frame that elevates the work and makes it truly public, just as Mucha intended.”

The full Savarin project, including the new museum, is scheduled to open in 2029. Once neglected, this historic quarter is set to re-emerge as a layered civic space that honours Prague’s past while opening it up for contemporary public life.