In the Construction of the Year competition in the Zlín Region, a family house has succeeded for the first time

Zlín - The Building of the Year 2006 award in the Zlín Region can for the first time be boasted by a family house. The expert jury awarded it for the very first time in the five-year history of the competition. Investors, designers, and contractors registered a record number of objects for this year's competition, totaling 35. The highest award, the Grand Prix, was won by the Business and Innovation Center Zlín, designed by architect Pavel Novák. This was announced to journalists today by the chairwoman of the expert jury and chief architect of Zlín, Dagmar Nová.
    The Grand Prix award is announced by the organizers each year. Last year, however, no one received it. This year, for the first time, the award bears the name of the late chief architect of the city of Zlín, Pavel Novák. "Mr. Architect was present at the founding of this competition. He was a person who greatly contributed to the enlightenment of architecture and urban planning as such," Nová told ČTK and Czech Radio.
    The Business and Innovation Center Zlín is part of the city heritage zone. The building was constructed in 1927 as part of the Baťa factory complex. Until 1996, it served the footwear industry. The four-story skeleton building was converted into an administrative building with office spaces. "We consider the reconstruction of Building 23 to be the first exemplary step towards the regeneration and revitalization of the entire industrial complex of the former Baťa factories," Nová noted. This building received an honorary recognition in the nationwide competition for the Grand Prix of Architects.
    This year, the competition organizers selected from 35 buildings completed last year in seven categories. In the category of public service buildings, the award went to the reconstruction of the historic building Malá scéna Zlín. In the category of residential houses, the Paseky apartment building in Otrokovice was the winner. Among industrial and agricultural buildings, the jury again rated the Business and Innovation Center Zlín the highest. In the category of transport, engineering, and ecological buildings, the ensemble of transport infrastructure buildings in Uherské Hradiště won. The award from the governor of the Zlín region went to the reconstruction of the information center Zvonice Soláň in the Vsetín area.