Vilnius, Lithuania

Lithuanian DO Architects have won an international competition to redesign a large section of the 19th-Century Old Town in Vilnius, proposing to continue the urban tradition of the quarter by forming a cohesive, vibrant quarter.

The Church of the Apostles Philip and James with a monastery dates back to the 18th century.

At the beginning of the 19th century, it was an integral complex together with the first secular hospital in Vilnius.

For a long time, the quarter was the main attraction center of Lukiškės suburbs, it was dominated by public functions – in addition to the hospital and the church, there was a garden, a school, a pharmacy and an ice cream parlor.

The buildings of the hospital have long been oriented towards the river along the present-day J. T. Vaižganto Street, the whole quarter has been surrounded by a fence with many entrances for at least 300 years.

The new hotel buildings, as well as the old hospital buildings, are oriented towards the river along J.T. Vaižganto Street.

The newly designed annexes between the historic buildings are lowered, thus revealing the rich layer of the complex.

The moderate architecture of the buildings blends in with the historic buildings on a human scale, with the church towers opening through the fragmented volumes.

The motif of the brick plastered, high monastery fence is extended by encircling the entire quarter around the perimeter.

The quarter consists of four parts: the church and its entrance area, the monastery building with accesses, the hotel buildings with a courtyard and the lyceum buildings with a public garden. The church and monastery plot is not designed.

The hotel has a large courtyard, a conference center and a 2-level underground car park.

Both buildings of the hotel have 5 floors, accommodate 264 rooms, on the ground floors are designed shops, restaurants, cafes, a bicycle path under the street, trees and shrubs.

An amphitheater hall with a cafe and a view of the river is being designed in the educational buildings, on the corner of Vasario 16th and A. Goštauto streets.

Auditoriums and workspaces are designed in historic buildings, and a library is provided in the courtyard building.

There is a public path in the yard, a planted garden where you can listen to night chelation concerts.

Architects: DO Architects
Design Team: Gilma Teodora Gylytė, Andrė Baldišiūtė, Sabina Daugėlienė, Algimantas Neniškis, Domantas Baltrūnas, Gerda Nevulytė, Gediminas Aismontas, Eglė Gelažauskaitė, and Edgar Vladimirenko