The renovation of the tall building of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at VUT cost 620 million

Brno - Students are gradually returning to the building of the Brno Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, which used to be the tallest building in the city, after a challenging reconstruction. The study department is already operational, and offices are being furnished. The main part of the move is prepared for the summer, said Radana Kolčavová, spokesperson for the Brno University of Technology, to ČTK today.

The repairs of the building in the school complex under Palackého Hill have been prolonged and have become more expensive. Initially, there was talk of 180 million crowns, but due to poor statics, the reconstruction will ultimately cost 620 million including new equipment.

"We will start teaching in the building only in September. It will be necessary to move laboratories, which we are planning for the summer," said Kolčavová. Some construction work on the staircase in front of the entrance still needs to be completed. For now, students can only enter the building through a side entrance.

Initially, the Brno University of Technology only wanted to repair the façade of the faculty, which was supposed to be finished in 2013. However, it turned out that the building's statics were poor, mainly due to low-quality construction materials and the lower load-bearing capacity of the steel elements. According to Kolčavová, it is no longer possible to determine who is responsible for the deficiencies after all these years.

The school also considered completely demolishing the building in the Pod Palackého Hill campus and constructing a new one in its place. However, it would turn out to be even more expensive than the reconstruction, the spokesperson stated.

The construction of the 74-meter-high Faculty of Mechanical Engineering building began in 1975 and was completed ten years later. Until spring 2013, it was the tallest structure in Brno when the Spielberk Tower B reached 85 meters. Later, the AZ Tower skyscraper, at 111 meters, became the tallest building in the city and the entire republic.