With the architecture industry’s current push toward adaptive reuse – the clever, sustainable repurposing, and reinvigoration of existing structures – comes a renewed and expanded focus on preservation. It isn’t just the obvious crop of highly ornate “pretty” buildings, representing certain “favorable” styles, garnering attention anymore.
And while certain presidential administrations might deem it an untenable style, brutalism is now also garnering the attention it deserves. For many, it’s unsightly, too rough, too experimental. For others, it’s inventive, expressive, and a more optimistic interpretation of clean-line modernism.
Take Prague’s centrally located Fairmont Golden hotel, now deftly reimagined with deep respect for what some might deem an anachronistic eye-sore in what is ostensibly a well-maintained Romanesque Disney World. Erected in 1974 by notable architect Karel Filsak, the originally named Inter-Continental Praha is defined by its monolithic yet textured facade, rising nine stories, not to mention its overhung top level. An early American investment within the Soviet-controlled Eastern Block, the hotel incorporates many artistic and design-led elements celebrating Czechia’s long-established prowess in these areas.
As fortunes changed and the country went through different phases of seismic change, the hotel fell into disrepair. Though a 2002 renovation was somewhat haphazard, key aspects of Filsak’s original design were maintained. Its more recent revamp, unveiled in 2025, sought to celebrate the architect’s gesamtkunstwerk approach even further. Today, it’s much more than just an accommodation. It’s become a social and cultural hub sensitively recounting the capital and country’s complex history.
Headed up by entrepreneurs Pavel Baudiš, Eduard Kučera, and Oldřich Šlemr – each with close ties to the site – the comprehensive revitalization project centered on making new, ingenious, and unexpected use of carefully identified critical features. Marek Tichý, principal of local firm TaK Architects, was brought in to marry these vestige elements with a new suite of amenities, including an outdoor pool, restaurant wing, and conference extension.
His intervention also focused on reconnecting the hotel with the surrounding city. A transparent annex – set in place by planted greenery – leads out to the Dvorák Embankment and the promenade lining the Vltava river. Here, there’s also a public access art gallery that permeates what might otherwise be viewed as an impenetrable fortress.
Though the glass, concrete, and wood structure was no longer sound and had to be propped-up with new supports, elements like sculptor Zbynék Sekal’s original ceramic facade were meticulously reconstituted. The modular, coffered, pill-shaped conference hall ceiling – originally imagined by Jan Šrámek – underwent the same process. Each recess was cleverly restored and fashioned with René Roubíček glass chandeliers – highlighting the country’s age-old prowess in deftly transforming and industrializing this natural material.
The Zlatà restaurant is yet again adorned with Hugo Demartini gilded fixtures and glass screens from the Sallinger glassworks. Elsewhere, Čestmír Kafka wooden ceiling reliefs and fragments from Miloslav Hejný’s Enchanted Forest columnar piece were reintroduced. While some architectural details are no longer structurally integral, they’re presented as hung or freestanding artworks, rendering the building as a sort of palimpsest. Tichý also integrated pieces and treatments by 20 or so contemporary artists and artisans, components conducive to Fairmont Golden Prague’s “crafted industrial” ethos.
When it comes to the actual guest rooms, there are 320 standard layouts, a handful of suites, and a few long-stay residences re-outfitted by hospitality design firm Richmond International. Like much of the property, these spaces balance form, texture, and light. The whole endeavor is truly the sum of its parts; an ever-unfolding celebration of Czech artistry.
What: Fairmont Golden Prague
Where: Prague, Czechia
How much: $309 per night and up
Design draws: A Brutalist icon in the heart of the city with myriad architectural and artistic detail sensitively reintroduced as a celebration of Czech creative prowess.
Book it: Fairmont Golden Prague
Go virtually on vacation with more design destinations right here.
Photography by BoysPlayNice.