People By

PSN turns Prague's Koh-i-noor factory into new district

Max Skala and PSN: how the former Koh-i-noor factory will become a new Vršovice district for three billion crowns

The company PSN has begun construction work on the site of the former Koh-i-noor factory in Prague's Vršovice — a large-scale project worth around three billion crowns, overseen by company manager Max Skala, with the architectural concept developed by the studio Jakub Cígler Architekti.

The nearly two-hectare industrial site will become a new residential part of Vršovice: it will include around 600 apartments, thirty commercial units and green public spaces. PSN acquired the site back in 2018, aware that the abandoned factory would need a comprehensive redevelopment. The project has become one of the largest in the company's portfolio.

“Koh-i-noor is a place that has shaped the face of Vršovice for decades, and we want to treat its history with respect,” says Max Skala, manager at PSN.

In the first phase, the developer will offer around 345 apartments — mostly compact 1+kk and 2+kk units, though a quarter of the offering will be aimed at families. The first residents are expected to move in during the second half of 2029, with sales starting in early 2027. Eight retail units will also be built as part of the first phase.

The project team is paying particular attention to preserving the industrial heritage: plans call for restoring the factory chimney, the former machine workshop building and the adjustment building. Thanks to a new steel extension, the chimney will regain its original height.

“From the very start it was clear that we needed to preserve the workshop and several other buildings, including the factory chimney — it's thanks to them that the place will keep its genius loci,” said architect Jakub Cígler.

The factory site, closed to the public for decades, will become a through-route for the district after redevelopment, with pedestrian paths linking neighbouring streets. The site's history goes back to 1902 — production here ran for 120 years and was closely tied to the companies Waldes and, later, Koh-i-noor, which made the Vršovice factory known far beyond Prague.

Share: Telegram WhatsApp

Related news

Tomáš Naňák left a small village in the Zlín region for a summer job in Ibiza — and ended up staying in Spain for ten years. That experience inspired him to create Likexpats, a platform that connects Czech and Slovak travellers with compatr
The Privamed group, which grew from a debt-laden hospital in Plzeň into a medical holding with annual revenue of three billion crowns, is going through a generational change: operational leadership has passed from father to son — Jakub Mach
Czech entrepreneur Ivo Holík has turned a small workshop making work gloves into a company that now outfits firefighters and military personnel around the world. His firm Holík International is approaching 750 million crowns in annual reven
Czech billionaire and investor Igor Fait, better known to the wider public for his football club Artis Brno, continues to expand a far less visible but highly profitable part of his business empire — a bakery chain. His investment group Jet
Founder and CEO of the Prague agency Hustle Adam Brousek has launched Social Pulse, a project unique to the Czech market — an independent benchmark that, for the first time, rates brands not by the size of their Instagram following but by h
Prague-based Potzillas, founded in May 2023 by Zuzana Bodnárová and her husband Tomáš Bodnár, has grown from a niche online shop for designer planters into a supplier for architects, interior designers and major corporate clients. Over two
Tomáš Petera, co-owner of the bookmaker Tipsport and owner of the Perinvest Group, spoke on The Forbes Show podcast about his plans to turn sport in Czechia into a real business — up to and including bringing the Tour de France or NBA games
Czech fintech startup Flowpay, founded by entrepreneur William Jallul, has topped the Sifted 100 ranking as the fastest-growing company among a hundred tech firms from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Central and Eastern Europe. Over the p
The Prague studio Flying Rat spent years earning money developing other people's games — it took part in creating the VR hit Beat Saber, worked on Darkest Dungeon and the Czech projects Silica and The Last Oricru. But having finally decided
Jakub Lohniský, founder of the Prague bespoke-tailoring company Le Premier, has spent recent months using artificial intelligence to build himself a website, a booking system and his own ERP system for the business. The whole setup costs hi
Martin Zajíček could do stand-up comedy with the story of how a boy from Pelhřimov, with a broken hockey stick, came to Prague chasing a sporting dream — and ended up, instead, as co-owner of seven well-known Prague venues, including pizzer
In just three years, a new major player has emerged on the Czech real estate market — Svoboda & Prucha, founded by Martin Svoboda and Ondřej Prucha. Today their portfolio holds projects worth 15 billion crowns, and their ambition is to brea