The SAO headquarters is the Construction of the Year 2023
Press release: The SAO headquarters is the Construction of the Year 2023 – 27 November 2023
The new headquarters of the SAO in Prague Holešovice won the title of Construction of the Year 2023 in this year's 31st edition of the competition of the Foundation for the Development of Architecture and Construction. The jury selected the winner from 38 nominations. The awards were presented by the organisers on Friday 24 November 2023 at a gala evening in Prague's Rudolfinum.
"The title is a further confirmation that our efforts towards a sustainable building meeting the standards of the 21st century have made sense. In August 2020 we tapped the cornerstone, and three years later we moved in. At the end of this journey, we have a modern, innovative building appreciated by professionals," commented the SAO President Miloslav Kala on the outcome of the competition.
The desire for a green and socially responsible building was at the very birth of the SAO's new headquarters. Thanks to the use of shipping transport, its carbon footprint has been reduced by 22.5 tonnes of CO2. The headquarters was built on the former brownfield site of the Holešovice brewery and the concrete that the builders dug up was then crushed into the foundations and used to build the roads.
When preparing the project documentation, the SAO placed great emphasis on the energy efficiency of the building. There are 40 geothermal boreholes under the building, which are used not only for heating but also for cooling in summer. The energy mix is complemented by photovoltaics, which was installed on the roof of the building and completed a few weeks ago. The building has a green roof and, of course, rainwater retention tanks. There are over twenty chargers for electric cars and employees using electric bicycles also have their own chargers.
Communication Department
Supreme Audit Office
The new headquarters of the SAO
