Brno wants to find out who owns the documentation for the restoration of Villa Tugendhat

Brno - The representatives of Brno will negotiate in the coming days with the company Omnia, which designed the heritage restoration of the Tugendhat villa. The documentation, costing nine million crowns, has been approved by the heritage authorities and is in possession of the building permit. However, a court recently ruled that the competition in which the city hall selected Omnia as the designer was unlawful. Therefore, it is currently unclear to whom the existing documentation belongs, as stated in today's comments from the city leadership.
    "The documentation was the property of Brno until the court's decision, which ruled that the contractual relationship was invalid from the beginning," said Mayor Roman Onderka to reporters today. Both parties must now agree on how to rectify the contractual relationship.
    According to some legal opinions, the city will have to return the documentation as there is no valid contract proving how it obtained it. Logically, the city should then demand back the money it paid for the documentation from the company, which would likely seek to recover the damages caused. According to Onderka, the discussion will address "the extent to which the work has been consumed."
    The Brno city councilors claim they are currently trying to expedite the restoration of the functionalist villa as much as possible. Therefore, in Tuesday's meeting, they tasked the investment department to prepare a tender to select a construction company. Its task will be to ensure the project documentation in addition to construction and restoration work.
    The mayor's deputy, Ladislav Macek, acknowledged that the future restorer may connect with Omnia and work according to its project. However, he can also hire another designer. For example, architect Jan Sapák, who led a lawsuit regarding the villa's restoration due to the competition, claims that he would propose a heritage restoration that would be significantly cheaper than the approximately 160 million crowns estimated by Omnia. Thus, the construction company could collaborate with him and - if Sapák is right - attract bids with lower project costs in the tender. On the other hand, a construction company that would rely on Omnia's project could have an advantage in terms of the construction completion date since the project is completed, approved by heritage authorities, and has a valid building permit.
    The city councilors will decide in some of the upcoming meetings which option will be more successful. They will have to set the conditions for the future tender, determining, for instance, how much weight to assign to the price, the timeline, and other variables in evaluating the bids.
    The mayor also wants to investigate whether everything was in order with the tender announced five years ago or if there were mistakes made at the city hall. Therefore, the procurement department of the magistrate will examine the tender, Onderka said.