JANUARY 2022

We are seeking an investment partner for architect Eva Jiřičná’s reconstruction of the “skyscraper”

At its December 2021 session, Ostrava’s City Assembly approved the plans to sell the building on Ostrčilova Street known locally as the “skyscraper” (including the drafts of the relevant contracts). On 14 December 2021, the City Council decided to announce a public tender for the reconstruction of this high-rise landmark. The project has been designed by the world-renowned Czech architect Eva Jiřičná and Petr Vágner at their AI DESIGN studio. This is the second time that the City has chosen the public-private partnership model for an architectural project; this form of cooperation has proved successful at the Nové Lauby residential complex in the city centre. A partnership of this type involves the City (which draws up a framework plan for the entire project and provides the necessary real estate) and a private sector investor, which elaborates the project in detail and implements it. As part of the deal, the City commits to buy back part of the completed development (in this case 15 apartments and 90 parking spaces). The developer thus has a very strong starting position, as the City’s buyback is contractually guaranteed, while the City benefits by acquiring new apartments and parking spaces without having to commit itself to large volumes of investment funding over a lengthy period.

Interested parties can find detailed information about the tender on the City’s official noticeboard and at the website pozemky.ostrava.cz (only in Czech). The deadline for bids is the end of March 2022. We are also offering a tour of the site at 10 a.m. on 14 January.

The framework proposal from the AI DESIGN studio will retain the basic fabric of the “skyscraper” and convert it for primarily residential use; there will be 70–85 apartments plus parking for 165 vehicles. The complex will be entirely barrier-free, and the ground floor will contain commercial premises. There will also be a comfortable modern reception area, as well as a viewing terrace and commercial premises on the top floor.

Though investors must retain the key architectural features of AI DESIGN’s framework proposal (both in the building itself and the parking garage), they will be responsible for elaborating detailed plans for the reconstruction and the garage according to their own individual specifications – and the winner of the tender will also be responsible for the implementation of the entire project.

Source (only in Czech)

Reconstruction work launched at the former Ostravica-Textilia department store

The former Ostravica-Textilia department store is an iconic building in the heart of Ostrava’s city centre, which in the upcoming years will be re-opened to the public following a complete reconstruction. The necessary construction permit has now been issued, enabling work to begin on revitalizing the building, which will become a creative centre incorporating a restaurant and café, a music club, and an auditorium for theatrical performances or conferences. The reconstruction will begin in early 2022, and the work is scheduled for completion by mid-2023, after which the building will be re-opened to the public.

This former fashion store consists of three interlinked buildings each designed by a different architect. The interior of the main part, which includes a famous grand staircase, dates from the 1950s and was designed by the architect Lubomír Šlapeta. The individual parts of the complex have suffered various inappropriate modifications since they were built, detracting greatly from the architectural quality of the original ensemble. The department store was eventually closed in the 1990s. In April 2000, two of the interior floors collapsed during reconstruction work after supporting walls were demolished, and part of the roof also collapsed.

The new owner of the complex is the Ostravica 2020 company, which purchased the site in 2015. The company decided to rescue this historic landmark and carried out essential work to ensure its structural stability. The owner’s goal is to restore the building to its former glory, and the company is working in close conjunction with the City of Ostrava and its central municipal district (Moravská Ostrava a Přívoz) to ensure that this goal is achieved. The ground-floor levels of all three buildings will be fully integrated with the adjacent exterior space, a large square (Náměstí E. Beneše) which is set to be revitalized in order to create an attractive public area. The City of Ostrava (via its Municipal Studio for Urban Planning and Architecture MAPPA) is currently holding a competition to find the best design for this revitalization project.

Source (only in Czech)

Ostrava’s 2022 budget will prioritize investments

In 2022, the City of Ostrava will operate with a balanced budget of 12.3 billion CZK. The budget was approved by the City Assembly at its session in December 2021. Investment is a major priority of the new budget; 4.4 billion CZK will go towards investment projects, making up 35.9% of the total budget. The majority of investment funding will be targeted at health care and social services, water management structures, roads, parking garages, cycle routes, and Ostrava’s new concert hall.

Key investment projects that are currently ongoing or will be launched during 2022 include the new parking garage at the City Hospital (and modernization work at the hospital itself), the renovation of the Korýtko senior citizens’ home, the completion of the conversion of the historic municipal slaughterhouse complex to create a modern art gallery, the renovation of the historic Grossmann villa, a new parking garage at Ostrava’s zoo, a sports hall in Třebovice, and a cycle route linking Ostrava’s city centre with the Lower Vítkovice area.

 More information about Ostrava’s 2022 budget HERE (only in Czech)

New multifunctional building will stand on the corner of Nádražní and Českobratrská Streets

The City’s attempts to revitalize Ostrava’s historic city centre, and to steer its future development with an emphasis on expanding the range of available residential units, are meeting with a positive response from private sector investors. Developers have been presenting their own proposals which will help to fill in unsightly vacant lots in the central part of the city – and one such project is a new multifunctional building to be known as Křižovatka (“The Crossroads”), which has been designed by Deeplexus Investments. With seven floors, the building will stand at the crossroads of Nádražní and Českobratrská Streets. It will include apartments, commercial units, underground parking, and a “green roof” with garden areas.

In 2021, the City of Ostrava signed a contract with Deeplexus Investments to sell the land where the new complex will be built.

The complex will contain 53 apartments with a total area of around 4 000 square metres. Each apartment will have its own cellar unit, and the top-floor apartments will have direct access to their own private roof gardens. There will also be ample parking facilities in the underground part of the building. A community garden will be created as a shared area for all owners and tenants, so even those residents who lack their own roof garden will be able to enjoy the outdoor space.

More information can be found HERE.

New strategy will help Ostrava to become a centre for top-quality education

At its November 2021 session, Ostrava’s City Assembly approved a key document setting out the City’s vision for education in the period up to 2030. The education strategy defines core priorities which will help Ostrava to become a centre for top-quality education, thus laying the foundations for the city’s future development, stopping the drain of creative and talented people away from the city in search of jobs elsewhere, and creating conditions that will enable Ostrava’s universities to become the first choice for people when deciding where to study.

The education strategy defines core priorities: improving the overall quality of education in the city, equal opportunities in education, talent management, career guidance, flexible education and digital competencies, the development of universities, and support for extracurricular activities and lifelong learning.

The City is already involved in a wide range of activities in these areas: it supports talented young people, foreign-language teaching, healthy school meals, and a healthy lifestyle in general. There is a particularly strong focus on technical and scientific talents, the development of reading skills and mathematical literacy, and research activities.

More information HERE.

The area outside Ostrava’s main railway station is set to undergo a major transformation

Ostrava’s main railway station is one of the most important points of entry into the city, yet its current appearance no longer meets the standards that are expected from a modern transport hub. However, a number of projects currently at the planning stage will bring major improvements in access as well as greatly enhancing the overall appearance of the station area. The space immediately outside the main entrance is currently the subject of a public urban planning tender for proposals to transform both the transportation infrastructure (access) and the public space itself; the proposals will potentially form the basis for more detailed investment plans. The City Council approved the announcement of the public tender at its session on 14 December 2021.

As befits the importance of this public space, the main emphasis in the tender will be on the quality of the proposals submitted. The criteria for evaluation – which have been elaborated by Ostrava’s Municipal Studio for Urban Planning and Architecture (MAPPA) (only in Czech) – will prioritize the best possible price/quality ratio.

The proposals submitted in the tender should present complete urban planning solutions in the form of a land use study, proposals for the overall architectural design of the public space outside the main station entrance, the integration of the proposed design with planned developments by other investors, and comprehensive solutions for transport/access infrastructure, including public transport, cycle routes, etc. Proposals should also include an analysis of parking capacity (and the potential location of a parking garage) and an optimum solution for the tram terminus (trams currently loop round in front of the station). The design should provide fully barrier-free access.

The deadline for submitting proposals is 21 January 2022. Full details of the public tender can be found at tenderarena.cz (only in Czech).

CEET is creating a unique “green mobility” course

Ostrava’s Centre for Energy and Environmental Technologies (CEET) is working closely alongside five project partners to create a tailor-made course responding to the rapidly changing situation in the automotive industry, which faces important challenges related to “green mobility”.

The project will create a manual for assessing the environmental impacts of the latest automotive industry developments. It will incorporate a new course which will help the industry to meet the constantly growing demand for green solutions and sustainable technologies. The transition to sustainable green mobility will require the entire sector to re-orient its focus, which in turn will require a massive emphasis on training automotive industry employees.

The main output of the “aLIFEca” project will be a high-quality expert training course focusing on the evaluation of product/technology life cycles, tailored to meet the specific needs of the automotive sector.

The Centre for Energy and Environmental Technologies (CEET) is a research institute based at Ostrava’s Technical University. It was established in January 2021 following the merger of several existing university institutes: the Nanotechnology Centre, the Energy Research Centre, the Centre for the Utilization of Non-Traditional Energy Resources, and the Institute of Environmental Technologies.

 Source: VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava

A model of Ostrava’s new concert hall has been created for acoustic measurements

Over the past 24 weeks, a precise model of the interior space in Ostrava’s planned new concert hall (on a scale of 1:10) has been created by the leading Czech acoustics specialist AVETON in close cooperation with the Japanese company NAGATA ACOUSTICS. The model, which is located at a specialist acoustics testing centre in the town of Mnichovo Hradiště, will be used for extensive acoustic measurements to verify the effectiveness of the proposed design – making it possible to modify the design solutions in order to achieve the optimum acoustic parameters inside the planned auditorium. The acoustic tests are set to begin in January 2022; they will be conducted by NAGATA ACOUSTICS, a team of globally renowned specialists who have helped design similar concert halls all around the world. When the measurements are complete, the model will be relocated to Ostrava and presented to the general public.

Preparations for the new concert hall are in full flow. Besides the acoustic model, documentation for the necessary construction permits has been drawn up, and consultations are currently underway with the relevant government bodies before the application for the permits is submitted.

Construction work on the new concert hall (as well as the renovation of the current City of Ostrava Cultural Centre, adjacent to the concert hall site) is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2022.

For more information on the concert hall project, see koncertnisal.cz/ or fajnova.cz.

Poruba’s pop-up exhibitions have been ranked among the most inspirational projects by CzechInvest

The Sdílko Poruba (only in Czech) project (an initiative of the Poruba municipal district) has won third prize in the CzechInvest agency’s “Inspirational Region” competition. The aim of the competition is to showcase examples of good practices in municipal development.

The jury singled out five projects through which municipalities in the Czech Republic are supporting local businesses. One of these is the Poruba project, a regularly held pop-up exhibition lasting several weeks and presenting a range of interesting local retail businesses from the Moravian-Silesian Region. The project helps businesses set up new partnerships as well as raising public awareness of the importance of local retail businesses based in physical premises. The next exhibition is planned for August 2022.

As a spin-off from the exhibition project, a special training academy has been created, which has helped retailers adapt to COVID-related restrictions by teaching them how to set up e-shops, enhance their window displays, and harness the potential offered by social media.

Source (only in Czech)

Grant scheme supports industrial research

The Czech Republic’s Technology Agency has announced the fifth call for proposals in its TREND grant programme (sub-programme 1 – Technology Leaders) which supports industrial research and experimental development. The purpose of the programme is to fund projects bringing practical implementations of the results of industrial R&D. A total 2 billion CZK will be available within the scheme.

The grant scheme is open to companies which already have experience of implementing R&D results using their own funds, as well as companies which have experience of purchasing R&D services from research institutions but which have not yet created their own R&D capacities. Successful projects must guarantee the creation of specific types of output – such as prototypes, functional models, software, industrial/utility models, etc.

Applicants can be research institutions or companies of all sizes (ranging from very small to very large), and there are no restrictions on project locations (i.e. Prague-based projects are also eligible). Applications can be submitted from 23 December 2021 to 16 February 2022.

See HERE for more information.

OTHER NEWS

Ostrava’s concert hall will be presented at an exhibition in Prague

Several projects by world-renowned international architects are currently underway in the Czech Republic. The exhibition “Visions for the Future” (held at the Winternitz villa in Prague) is presenting three such projects, located in the three largest Czech cities, which will be built in the upcoming years – enabling Czech cities to showcase some of the world’s boldest architectural designs.

The three projects presented at the exhibition comprise a diverse range of different types and styles. Prague is represented by the Savarin commercial complex, designed by the British architect Thomas Heatherwick’s studio. Brno is represented by a Dutch design (from the Benthem Crouwel studio) for the city’s new main railway station. Ostrava’s contribution is the city’s new concert hall, designed by the American architect Steven Holl.

The exhibition is open from 20 December 2021 to 22 February 2022.

For more information see HERE.

New building for the Economics Faculty at Ostrava’s Technical University

Shortly before Christmas, on 20 December 2021, a ceremony was held to lay the foundation stone of the new Economics Faculty building at the Technical University of Ostrava. Construction work is scheduled to begin in the near future. The new building will meet all modern energy efficiency and environmental management standards.

The five-floor building will contain teaching rooms, a study room, staff offices, underground parking, relaxation zones and a viewing terrace. There will also be facilities for cyclists, including a bike storage area. Construction work is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2024.

See HERE for more information about the new building (only in Czech).

IT4Innovation presented at the conference in St. Louis