Winners of the prestigious Best of Realty 2004 competition attended the award ceremony held in Prague’s Slovanský dům on 3 November. We are proud to announce that the Alpha Building, BB Centrum Office Park, took second place in the New Office Scheme category. Completed last year, the building now serves as headquarters for Microsoft, Czech Puma Dassler, EDS, Setuza, Salve Group, D.S.Leasing, British Telecom, Huawei Technologies, and the developer of the project, Passerinvest Group. Building Alpha is very highly regarded by the panel of experts as it “has marked another successful stage of the vast development within the context of the urban centre, providing the tenants with an opportunity to be brought into the limelight thanks to its sophisticated design”. Incidentally, Building Alpha has three basements and eight above-ground storeys. Very unique in terms of architectural and urban design, the new development reflects a new urban approach, which envisages significantly smaller extent of land coverage in favour of green areas. The roof of the building is designed as a large space covered with grass and lush vegetation. The attractive interior atrium is open to daylight at each of the floor levels, creating a pleasant atmosphere throughout the building. What is absolutely unique in Prague is the application of pre-oxidised titanium zinc for the curved south-west and east façades, which are intended – according to architect Jan Aulík – to be a vital counterbalance to façades of many modern office buildings that cannot ripen. The Best of Realty 2004 award is already the third accolade of Building Alpha, which received the Construction & Investment Journal award for the Best Development Project in 2003 and the Construction of the Year 2004 title given by the Builders’ Entrepreneurial Association.

The Best of Realty is regarded as the most prestigious competition in its field. The sixth year of the event saw 37 projects entered in five categories: Residential Schemes, New Office Schemes, Office Premises after Refurbishment, Shopping Centres and Hotels. The number of entrants indicates a growing interest in the competition. New Office Schemes and Residential Schemes were the biggest and most important categories, and Alpha was one of nine competitors in its field. The jury consisted of eleven members from the Ministry of Regional Development, banks, developers, end users, architects and real estate brokers. The quality of the schemes in the competition is assessed according to the following criteria: choice of location, urban and architectural treatment, quality of implementation, and, last but not least, success on the property market. For the first time, the wide public could participate as well, voting for a scheme to be given Award from the Public (on web pages of REALIT monthly, Euro weekly, web servers penize.cz and stavebni-forum.cz, and home pages of the competition).

“There is an almost magical connection between Passerinvest Group and Best of Realty,” said Marketing Director Zbyněk Passer at the award ceremony. “At the beginning of the competition in 1999, Passerinvest developed Building C, which marked the beginning of BB Centrum, and which won the highest award for the best office development built in the CR after 1989. In addition, Radim Passer won the Personality of the Year category when it was announced for the first time in 2002. Also this is why we are very pleased to receive this year’s award for the second place. At the same time, I would like to congratulate AIG/Lincoln on their victory with their scheme known as The Park,” concluded Zbyněk Passer.


The complete list of projects awarded in the sixth year of the Best of Realty

Residential Schemes
1st place Mrázovka residential villa, Prague 5, developer: V Invest a.s.
2nd place Na Hřebenkách, Prague 5, developer: Pod lipami, s.r.o.
3rd place Sympatie terrace houses and villas, Prague 8, Skanska CZ

New Office Schmes
1st place The Park, Prague 4, AIG/Lincoln
2nd place Building Alpha, Prague 4, Passerinvest Group
3rd place Roztyly shopping and office park, Prague 4, Sekyra Group

Office Premises after Refurbishment
1st place Kotelna, Prague 8, Levapas, REKG group member
2nd place City Empiria, Prague 4, ECM Real Estate Developments
3rd place N/A

Shopping Centres
1st place Olympia Centrum, Plzeň, AM Development
2nd place Olympia Centrum, Olomouc, AM Development
3rd place IGY Centrum, České Budějovice, ING Real Estate

Hotels
1st place Aria Hotel, Prague 1, developer: Tržiště, a.s.
2nd place Pachtův Palác Hotel, Prague 1, Orco Property Group
3rd place K+K Hotel, Prague 1, developer: K+K Hotels

Special Award from the Jury
Marina Lipno

Award from Asociace pro rozvoj trhu nemovitostí (ARTN, Association of the Property Market Development)
Evan Z. Lazar (SALANS)

Award from the Public
Residential Building, Nedvědovo Sq, Prague 4, AT Development