The first stage of the reconstruction concerns the foyer of the cinema building, built in Liberec in 1923 by local architects Effenberger and Noppes. The construction of the “Cinema Café” in the Cinema Varšava was the first stage of civic activity, which sought to repair the dilapidated building of the last city cinema, participate in the creation of local culture and create a federal house in the renovated building. The original building has a number of architectural qualities, the basic house layout makes appropriate use of the dramatic view of the Liberec terrain.

The design and implementation arose from the voluntary activities of the association, were influenced by the quality of the original building and were created with the knowledge that the funding for the construction is obtained by the association, the contribution of the city and the region, but mainly from public collection and supporting local companies.

The new buildings of the federal house and gazebo are located on the grassy square Pod Kaštany. The spot is adjacent to the main road passing through the village and the St. Wenceslas pilgrimage is traditionally held there. This pair of buildings borders the plaza and at the same time turns into it. Federal house with a row of high glass doors, gazebo with a covered deck. The layout scheme works even if only one of the buildings is built. A new house will always dominate the Pod Kaštany area.

The location for placement of the Federal House and the wooden gazebo was selected in the architectural concept, which we developed in 2013.

We propose a construction of both public and private buildings in more or less traditional urban form. Apartment buildings with workshops, mercantile, shared spaces on the ground floor. On higher floors, there are flats of varying sizes, for various groups of users. The houses have gardens in inner blocks, which can be approached either through the house or right from the street.
We propose an extension of the historical factory building “Linserka” with a generous universal hall. The hall and various levels of the extension can be used in numerous ways, as per the needs of the creative city quarter.
An overwhelming majority of Papírák is a residential zone. This solution enables us to free the public space from division caused by other transport classifications. Thus, we open the public space to people instead of making it subservient to transport classification. In this simple solution, there lies a primary way of finding a necessary universality and usability of shared public spaces!
We create the unique character of the quarter especially by keeping the scale of buildings rather small, and by traces of historical blocks.

The scale of Papírák is not determined by regulations and sizes of automobiles and their operation, the scale of Papírák is human, determined by the needs of a human – a pedestrian, a cyclist, a runner, a neighbour. We divide the blocks in a traditional way – a house / a wall, private / public – with clearly defined borders. We use traditional materials and develop the theme of water and trees in the streets.

Overall locality solution

That the complex of the former sugar factory, given its position and size, can have an absolutely crucial impact on the future development of Šlapanice, is clear. While it is, at the moment, situated outside the center of the town’s social life, which is, obviously, located around the Masarykovo sq., Zámečnického sq. and the grammar school triangle, it, however, lies on the historical link between this triangle and the train station, next to the policlinic and the football fields. The ultimate argument is simply to acknowledge the sheer size of its area, which allows for a variety of uses, sure to influence the life of many a town. However, there are several “buts,” significantly affecting future development and potential power of the new town center. Ecological burdens, which complicate spatial arrangement and limit the use of new areas, and, to some extent, uncertainity about the investing power of the town, as well as an absence of a specific assignment.

Granary

Mainly defensive nature of granaries, protecting what’s inside against unwanted climatic effects as well as against strangers, creates, on purpose, a feeling of something inaccessible, closed inwardly into itself. With openings functioning primarily as a means of ventilation, a granary can be imagined as a windowless house. This design aims to offer a new understanding without a significant loss of the original substance, while preserving the image of the house. From closed to open, from technical to civic, from silent to speaking. In the rhythm of present tectonic of the facade, the house opens social spaces for a dialogue with the outside attention. Thus, the house draws energy into itself, it comes alive, it manifests actions, it is a symbol of the town’s cultural acitivity. The structure of the interior, thanks to respecting the triple tracting, remains largely preserved, corresponding to the use of the building. It is also the main means of expression of the interior, offering a direct contact with the original building and its values.

It is our ambition to complete the eastern edge of Uhříněves. With the building of a new school, an opportunity is created to insert into the area a complex, which, in its extent from the new school square to the green space on the edge between the city and the country, will bring together disconnected fragments and dull the edges of previous precipitous development of Uhříněves.

It will complete the missing infrastructure, ranging from that which is obviously lacking to the less visible (not just the school, but also public areas, safe pedestrian and cycling paths for children, areas for social/organisational/sports use, etc.).

Thus, into the area, we insert a complex which is divided, fractal-like, in a logical and understandable succession, in which the scale is decreased and privacy increased: a square with two buildings (a school and a sports hall) -> a school -> 1st and 2nd stage of elementary school -> individual clusters -> individual classes. Coresponding to these steps of the succession are individual public and private areas, ranging from a square to the main school foyer to the public areas of the clusters to the individual classes.

The school works in such a way that whether a pupil arrives on foot, by bike, bus, or is dropped off at the K+R spot by their parents, they appear on the school square in front of the school and sports hall. From the square through the gate they enter the school grounds and around the school yard the school building, where they find themselves in the midst of action in the foyer, which connects the various parts of the school and where, if needed, the whole school can assemble and from where one enters the first stage via the southern gallery and the second stage via the northern gallery.