City Tower is a central component of the larger ECM City, for which Meier Partners served as master planner. The building’s geometry reflects a spirited yet restrained formal vocabulary while meeting demanding technical requirements and stringent sustainability guidelines. Floor area, efficiency, and flexibility are maximized by the design, while the building also boasts floor-to-ceiling glass walls with unparalleled views towards the historic city of Prague, providing a powerful visual connection between the tower’s interior and the urban surroundings.
The building makes a dramatic statement to pedestrians at street level, combining sculptural entrance canopies and a striking dining terrace with a metal skin cladding the interior two-story lobby. Rising above this base, two interlocking volumes, defined by vertical metal panel walls at the north and south facades, express the building’s signature slender profiles and regulate the proportions of the composition. The orthogonal east facade is highly expressive with white frame profiles and metal fins in contrast with the smooth and undulating skin of the west facade. The building’s summit which contains a sculpted VIP restaurant and a platform with technical roof concealed by a double layer façade augments the silhouette of this unmistakable landmark.
Like its neighbor City Green Court, the design for City Tower is inspired by Czech Cubism. On the symbolic west facade, a continuous plane is modulated by creases and folds. These subtle undulations in the glass generate a magnificent interplay of light and shadow between foreground and background, offering an arresting composition visible from the historic center of Prague.
