The New Building
- A) General Information
- B) The New Building
- C) Technical Information
- D) Schedule Of The Building Process
- E) Costs (Including Taxes)
- F) Publications & Awards
- G) Plans & Photos
a architect(s)
- 18 Firm
- Ateliér Kročák – architekt, Riegrova 20, 370 01 České Budějovice
- 19 Project Architect
- Ing. arch. Jaromír Kročák, Ateliér Kročák - architekt, Collaboration: Ing. arch. Jana Rozkopalová Ing. arch. Petr Hornát, Ing. arch. Václav Čihák Ing. Tomáš Fuit
- 20 Type of project
- renovation
b aims of the new building
- 21 Short description of the main objectives and purposes of the project
The main aim is to preserve and improve the premises of a historic castle, which had been decaying for a long time and the condition had been critical before the revitalisation.
The revitalisation and new use of the castle is in accordance with the needs of the town and the region – the building of the town library meant that a new role had been found for the historical castle. The castle premises are re-incorporated into the town.
Improvements of the preserved structures in light of the historic preservation and its preservation for future generations without any considerable intervention in the listed structures, maximum utilisation of the existing structures for the new construction, possible future disassembly of the new entrance extension without any considerable intervention in the historical structures.
The historical structures and the walls of the castle are permanently exhibited as an artefact thanks to the all-glass walls and the ceiling of the library container – a permanent exhibition of the development and transformation of the castle.
Thanks to the revitalisation of its castle Soběslav has obtained a complex information, cultural and education centre with a regional function.
c special features
- 22 Site
- Historic center of Soběslav. The premises are connected with the main pedestrian zone from the Soběslav housing estates to the square in the centre of the town.
- 23 Architecture
The main design criterion for reconstruction and extension of the castle in consideration of the chosen functional purpose is the author’s endeavour to connect the original premises with the new structures. This sets a limit for intervention in the existing historical structures. The temporary static safety measures in the form of rods and timber were replaced by a horizontal stiffening reinforced-concrete board built into the walls approximately in the middle of the palace wing. The board defines the floor of the inbuilt library “container” which might be disassembled and removed anytime in the future if future generations wish to change the premises and use them for different purposes.
The library container is both physically and technically separated from the existing wall and roof structures. The container is designed as an all-glass structure, the floor is complete with the required bearing capacity, the walls and the ceiling are all made of glass with sufficient distances from the internal face of the historical walls (with the distance of approx. 90 – 150 cm between the glass and the original wall). The container has its own “atmosphere” with minimum permanent humidity and temperature in the interior which is necessary for the protection of the stock of books, and the historical structures of the castle walls are, after construction of the container, still in the original “outdoor” setting with the original outdoor humidity and temperature parameters necessary for the stabilisation of the preserved building structures.
The reconstruction of the castle and construction of the library in the palace wing of the castle was completed in June 2010.
