Winter Harbour Competition Bratislava masterplan

Winter Harbour Competition Bratislava, Slovakia

2 June 2026

Location: Bratislava, Slovakia

Images: Viktor Gubka

The Winter Harbour Competition Received a Record Number of Entries in the First Stage

BRATISLAVA, 2. 6. – The first stage of the international masterplanning competition for the transformation of Winter Harbour in Bratislava, Slovakia attracted exceptional interest from the professional community. A total of 123 entries from 33 countries were submitted by the competition deadline.

According to the competition organiser, the Metropolitan Institute of Bratislava, and the competition announcers, Public Ports, a. s., and the City of Bratislava, 5 to 7 of the best proposals will advance to the second stage. The competition is anonymous.

According to the international jury, which includes British architect Catherine Burd, Amsterdam’s Chief Urban Planner Paco Bunnik, Viennese urban planning expert Eva Kail, Hamburg-based urbanist Peter Gero, former Brno City Architect Michal Sedláček, and others, the high level of participation underlines the fundamental importance of the Winter Harbour area and the strong interest of the international professional community in contributing to its transformation.

“The exceptional number of submitted proposals and the truly international participation in the competition confirm that a high-quality brief and a highly qualified international jury are bringing know-how from around the world to Bratislava. The role of the Metropolitan Institute is not only to secure a smooth and professional process and a high-quality outcome for the competition, but also safeguard public interest in this significant city area and its future development. The high interest in the competition gives us a strong prospect of fulfilling these goals,” says Petra Marko, Chief executive of the Metropolitan Institute of Bratislava.

The highest number of proposals came from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Germany and Italy.

Why Will Winter Harbour Change?

Winter Harbour in Bratislava, Slovakia is considered one of the last transformation areas in the capital, with enormous potential thanks to its location on the Danube. The 65-hectare area is currently inaccessible to the public and is used for the transshipment of bulk materials from cargo ships. At present, however, it operates with outdated technologies and its cargo capacity is used at only approximately 25 percent.

For this reason, the Ministry of Transport of the Slovak Republic, the owner of the area currently managed by the state-owned company Public Port, presented a vision in 2024 to relocate the port to the neighbouring Pálenisko basin. The Ministry considers Pálenisko a more suitable location for cargo shipping activities and plans to comprehensively modernise it.

At the same time, Winter Harbour, which is now located in the wider city centre, will be able to transform into an accessible part of Bratislava — a new fully integrated urban district.

The idea of transforming the cargo port has been discussed in Bratislava for decades. The City of Bratislava welcomes this vision. The Chief Architect of the City, Juraj Šujan, emphasises the qualities of the area: “Winter Harbour is a unique location in contact with the city centre, which should become its integrated and accessible part — a district with mixed uses, high-quality public spaces and direct contact with the river and harbour basins.”

Bratislava could thus gain a long waterfront promenade along the Danube, high-quality public spaces referencing the city’s history, and opportunities for the development of water sports. The waterfront lining the two harbour basins of Winter Harbour is also particularly suitable for the location of a landmark cultural institution — something Bratislava currently lacks.

The Transformation of the Winter Harbour will be a Long-Term Process

The first step towards the transformation of the Winter Harbour was the Vision for the Development of the Winter Harbour Area, prepared for Public Ports, a.s. by the Metropolitan Institute of Bratislava, together with the City of Bratislava and experts in flood protection, heritage preservation and other fields. The vision was overseen by Peter Gero, an urban planner who was also involved in the transformation of Hamburg’s HafenCity waterfront district.

The future shape of the harbour district will be further defined by the results of the ongoing masterplanning competition. The vision and the competition brief were inspired by successful examples of harbour district transformations from around the world, such as HafenCity in Hamburg, Nordhavn in Copenhagen and Amsterdam Noord.

The ongoing competition is two-stage and anonymous, meaning that the jury will select 5 to 7 best teams to proceed to second stage anonymously. The selected teams will then incorporate the jury’s comments and recommendations, as well as the outcomes of the participatory process. What exactly will the jury evaluate, and what will it focus on?

“We are looking for a unique and original proposal for Bratislava that also builds on the continuity of the work carried out so far. In the proposals, we want to see a functional connection with the river and the city centre, as well as the development of the area’s specific location and industrial heritage. Thanks to this, a new multifunctional district should emerge, capable of growing together with the city,” emphasises jury member Peter Gero.

“During the evaluation, I will focus on the quality and refinement of the urban vision, the sensitivity with which heritage structures and spaces are integrated, and the way the proposal responds to the site’s various scales,” adds Dutch jury member Paco Bunnik, Chief Urban Designer of Amsterdam.

At this stage, neither the authors of the selected proposals nor the countries of origin of the studios will be known. However, the high level of participation in the competition from all continents suggests a high potential for quality in the selected proposals. The first round also confirms that international masterplanning competitions are an important tool in planning major urban areas. They enable cities to obtain a broad spectrum of expert perspectives, compare different approaches, and bring to Bratislava experience from cities that have already undergone similar transformations. As part of its mission, the Metropolitan Institute of Bratislava also specialises in organising competitions of this kind.

“Receiving 123 proposals from around the world is clear evidence that Winter Harbour has enormous international potential. We believe that the right masterplan can open this area up to people, introduce new functions and high-quality public spaces, while also working sensitively with its harbour history. This new district will naturally neighbour the functioning river port in the Pálenisko zone, which we will preserve in this location and further modernise,” said Matej Danóci, CEO of Verejné prístavy, a. s.

The final results of the second round of the international competition will be known in November 2026. The Ministry of Transport of the Slovak Republic has committed to respecting them.

More information about the project: https://winterharbour.mib.sk/

Winter Harbour Competition Bratislava, Slovakia buildings images / information received 020626

Location: Bratislava, Slovakia, Central Eastern Europe.

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