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As we walk through the Old Town, we have no idea that behind the walls of the townhouses there could be a hidden piece of industrial history, a few visible traces of a forgotten time in Prague. In Bílková Street, one such testimony is offered by a newly renovated factory building dating back to 1905. The exterior gives no indication of the brick dominant towering chimney and the generous factory building, constructed in the unforgettable spirit of industrial Art Nouveau.
Originally a smaller woodworking factory, the building underwent visible changes in 1948 - new machinery rooms, a boiler room, a grinding workshop, and an office were added to the oldest part. Part of the courtyard was covered with a poorly constructed wooden shelter. Over the years, the factory fell into disrepair, almost disappearing completely, with only the brick chimney standing proudly towards the sky. In 2005, the owners of Design by Donlič, architect Ivana Dombková and Rostislav Černík, came up with the idea to reconstruct the space with immense potential, which also borders their showroom and architectural and design studio.
Architect Dombková and her team began working hard. It was necessary to dismantle the existing factory buildings, restore the chimney, lower the level of the courtyard, the factory floors, and build a new two-level structure. The architect's intention was not to demolish but to rebuild the factory as sensitively as possible, without losing its original romantic spirit.
The "new" factory completely preserves and emphasizes the character of the original building from 1905; inside you will find exposed brickwork, steel and cast iron load-bearing structures, factory windows – both façade and roof. Just like in original industrial buildings, here too, a free space runs grounded by the original brick walls. The entire reconstruction lies in a very distinctive symbiosis of the old with the new, in the dynamics of contrasting material and stylistic elements – glass, steel, wood, bricks, concrete, and the play of transparencies, surfaces, reflections, and translucencies. The aim is tension, mystery... and harmony. The character of the reconstruction highlights all the beautiful and valuable elements of the original structure – bricks, steel, cast iron, original load-bearing constructions – imaginative in logic and simplicity, and complements these values with durable and honest materials of today.