Following his victory in a competition from 1960, the young architect Ivan Matusik and his assistants prepared projects for three stages of construction for the Hotel Kyjev and the Prior department store. The complex consists of the three-sided mass of the department store linked by a small corridor to the shared horizontal base and the vertical shaft of the hotel. The largest complex of buildings added to Bratislava's centre in the post-war era, it has a generously modern spirit, and its simple dignity balances the natural bustle of the urban square.