Urban regeneration: Bratislava to create a new ‘urban oasis’
Bratislava is going to get an “urban oasis” as a three-hectare former industrial site in the downtown area of the Slovakian capital is being regenerated and turned into a new neighbourhood with a large public park.
Stefano Boeri’s architecture studio, known for its Vertical Forest tower in Milan and other green projects, has won an international competition for the creation of the new district in Bratislava. His masterplan, called Urban Oasis, features one skyscraper and four residential buildings with 1,300 apartments of different sizes at the edge of a public park.
Penta Real Estate had announced the international competition at the end of last year for the best plan to create a new central hub for the city. The Chalupkova district in Bratislava has been abandoned for decades, despite its proximity to the historic city centre and the Danube river.
“Presenting itself as a new central area for Bratislava that is open and welcoming, Urban Oasis meets the challenges of today’s urban context without forgetting the Central European architectural tradition,” said Stefano Boeri.
The jury chose Boeri’s project because of its “European matrix” and emphasis on creating “a new neighbourhood of building that call to mind the traditional stone and brick façades while combining them with greenery.”
Nature is at the heart of the project, which seeks to increase biodiversity with plants on all the terraces and roof gardens as well as a “green ring” around the buildings which acts as a filter between the residential accommodation and the roads to reduce noise pollution, regulate the microclimate and minimise the urban heat island effect.
Solar panels on 4,600 sq m of roof area will produce renewable energy for the neighbourhood, while rainwater will be collected and used for the green roofs and gardens. The park, which will be open to the public, will have pedestrian areas and cycle paths throughout to encourage sustainable mobility in the neighbourhood.
With this urban regeneration project “Bratislava is taking a step forward towards the model of the Archipelago metropolis, a city with different neighbourhoods that produce clean energy and where architecture is combined with living nature with plants and trees at the centre and on the façades of buildings,” said Boeri.
Building work will start in 2026 and the entire project is expected to be completed in ten years.