An international architectural and urban planning competition was announced for the territory in 2022, the winner of which was the leading foreign architectural studios Snøhetta and Studio Egret West in cooperation with the local studio gro architects. The project will bring 900 apartments and 85,000 m2 of office and retail space to the location. The total gross floor area will reach approximately 210,000 m2.

The parking capacity within the entire project will be approximately 3,500 parking spaces, the vast majority of which will be located in underground garages so that they do not occupy public space and greenery. Civic amenities will mostly take the form of retail establishments located on the ground floor of buildings. However, for the first stages, Penta Real Estate is already considering the location of a kindergarten.

The project will be divided into several stages, while the implementation of a similar scale is expected to take approximately ten years. Currently, the 1st stage is being prepared as part of the architectural study. It will be located on land west of the Apollo Bridge and will bring five residential buildings and one office building to the area. The start of the construction of the 1st stage is planned at the end of 2026. The preparation and timing of the next stages will depend on the dynamics of the permitting processes and on the development of the real estate market.

Public spaces - "Bowls"

The winning architectural design works very well with public spaces, valuable fragments of existing greenery within the area, works in a significant way with the terrain and enables the creation of other focal points of the area in the form of so-called "bowls" with their own identity and function.

The project works with the concept of five bowls. The game bowl and the recreation bowl are located by the dam and will provide opportunities for active recreation for children and adults. The forest bowl, in turn, will separate the public space from the traffic hub under the Apollo bridge through greenery. The cultural bowl will be the end of the large central park leading from the territory of Nové Lido, and the fifth, the sports bowl, will activate the space under the Apollo bridge in close proximity to the embankment.

Environment

The plots of the Southbank project are located near the area of European significance Bratislava Luhy, which also includes the protected area Soví les. However, the project does not directly interfere with these areas in any way and is separated from them by a flood barrier and permanent grasslands.

With respect for mutual proximity, experts from the Slovak Academy of Sciences and conservation associations were approached to assess and evaluate the emerging relationship between the urbanized and natural environment in advance. The research team consisted of members of the Institute of Botany and the Institute of Zoology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, the Zoology Department of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the Comenius University and the Bratislava Regional Conservation Association.

The result of several months of field surveys is a series of concrete recommendations and mitigating measures, which Penta Real Estate already implements in the phase of the architectural study.

In the area of flora, ecologically significant trees and fragments of floodplain forest have been identified, which will be incorporated into the design of the garden improvements within the bowls. Within the fauna, a find of a bee was identified, which is not a species of European importance, but it is a rare, little-explored species. Therefore, according to Penta Real Estate's recommendations, its biotope will be supported by the planting of urban meadows, and the method and periodicity of mowing the land has already been adapted to it.

In addition, measures will be implemented on the glass facades of buildings, respecting the migratory routes of birds, with the aim of minimizing the risk of collisions.

You can read more about the flora and fauna survey around the project here.

Change of land use plan

The need to change the zoning plan in this location arose mainly from the fact that the current regulation of the territory is based on the zoning regulation proposal from 2006, which does not meet the needs of the city and its residents and needs to be adapted to the current principles of creating a compact and functionally mixed city, which emphasizes pedestrian, bicycle and public transport, urban greenery and, last but not least, responds to current challenges associated with climate change. In addition, a tram is being introduced to the territory through the change of the territorial plan, the bypass channel of the Danube in the inundation area is being canceled, which is not necessary from a water management point of view, but did not allow the preservation of boating, which has been present in the territory for many years.

"The original spatial plan is almost 20 years old, and the need to change it is essential to build a compact and pedestrian so-called 15 minutes from the city. The lack of use of empty areas in the city center pushes construction to the outskirts of Bratislava into the so-called "suburbs", which is contrary to the efficient use of the city's infrastructure, motivates the use of individual car transport instead of public transport and is contrary to climate and environmental goals", said Juraj Nevolník, executive director of Penta Real Estate Slovakia.

Activation of the territory soon

In order for the residents of Bratislava to benefit from the given area even before the actual construction begins, Penta Real Estate will activate and make a part of the area of the Southbank project more attractive this calendar year. At the site of the future sports bowl, in cooperation with the gro architekti studio, in coordination with the Snøhetta studio and Studio Egret West, the developer is working on the idea of creating a relaxation zone, which could later be expanded to include a gastro operation. Also, on the land east of the Apollo bridge, where construction will begin in later stages, Penta Real Estate is preparing a skill park with a pump track for cyclists with an external partner.

More information about the Southbank project can be found at www.southbank.sk  or you can listen to the Penta Podcast  here..