IPR will repair its headquarters, the reason is the very poor condition of the buildings

Prague - The Prague Institute of Planning and Development (IPR) will reconstruct its headquarters in the Emauz complex. The reason is the poor condition of the buildings, which have, among other issues, problems with statics and leaks into their structures. The spokesman for IPR, Marek Vácha, communicated this to ČTK. The cost of the repair is expected to be in the hundreds of millions of crowns. When the repair will begin has not yet been determined. In addition to the reconstruction of the buildings, their surroundings are also set to change.

The city entrusted the buildings to IPR as of January 1 of this year. The author of the buildings is architect Karel Prager. IPR is responsible for urban planning in the city.

"Today the 'blocks' are in a lamentable state. A suspended structural system was used, which does not meet today’s standards. Given that water is leaking into the structures, the situation may be even worse than it appears," Vácha stated.

IPR will first assess the condition of the buildings and other elements throughout the complex. "The cost and complexity, and thus the time demands of the entire reconstruction will depend on them. A priority for IPR will be to address the problematic statics and carry out a sensitive reconstruction that preserves the architectural qualities of the buildings," Vácha added.

The city, which originally started preparing the reconstruction, planned to invest up to one billion crowns into the buildings. IPR, which currently has the buildings entrusted to it, will evaluate whether such a high amount is necessary. "We will examine the need and feasibility of such a generously conceived reconstruction. I expect that we will return to a more modest variant. In 2008, project documentation was prepared with a budget of about 300 million," he stated.

The Institute has submitted a request for support from European funds, from which it could receive up to 200 million crowns. This year, according to preliminary plans, IPR is expected to choose a contractor for the construction and tentatively plans to start the actual repair in 2020.

IPR is also preparing to transform the outdoor area, which will become a social and meditation public space connected to the gardens of the neighboring Benedictine monastery. The goal is primarily to remove the barriers that currently prevent people from visiting the complex. For example, the fence that separates the monastery and IPR headquarters from Vyšehradská Street will be removed.

The buildings were designed by architect Karel Prager, who also designed the former Federal Assembly building, among others. The buildings were constructed at the end of the 1960s in the style known as brutalism.