SEFO will have a project for a building permit within two years

Olomouc - The long-planned construction of the Central European Forum Olomouc (SEFO) is expected to have a project for a building permit and execution documentation within two years. Representatives of the Museum of Art Olomouc (MUO) today signed a contract with the winner of the tender for the general designer of the SEFO building and the reconstruction of the MUO building; the design work will be carried out by the firm Šépka architects. According to MUO representatives, this marks a milestone for the construction of SEFO, which will showcase Central European visual arts, the museum representatives told journalists today. The government allocated 593 million crowns for the construction in 2019.

The new SEFO building will be located on the site at Denisova Street and will connect with the existing building of the Museum of Modern Art. It will serve not only as an exhibition space, but the library, study room, and archive will also move there from unsuitable conditions, and there will be storages for art collections. "The SEFO project is not just about the architecture of the new building but also about a rich and diverse content that will present Central European culture of the 20th and 21st centuries,” said MUO director Ondřej Zatloukal. According to museum representatives, it is one of the most complex projects in the Czech cultural scene in decades.

The definitive decision to build SEFO according to the original design by architect Jan Šépka was announced in 2020 by then Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek (ČSSD). He also has support from the current minister Martin Baxa (ODS), who today labeled the project as fundamental. "I believe that SEFO fulfills one of the important things, to ensure that Czech culture transcends the geographical borders of our country and presents itself in a broader international context,” Baxa stated.

The design work, including the project for the building permit and execution documentation, which will be used to select the construction contractor, will take approximately two years. "We are considering having the building 3D printed from high-strength UHPC concrete, which would allow us to do without formwork. We have verified this technology over the past two years, and regarding strength and other properties, it will allow us to shape the building according to our ideal vision,” said Jan Šépka, whose firm won the open tender for design work. He added that the entire building will be designed as low-energy.

Architect Šépka proposed filling the gap at Denisova Street, in an area of urban heritage preservation, with a concrete building of futuristic appearance back in 2009. The unconventional form of the building has long provoked mixed reactions from the public. In September 2020, this proposal was approved by Minister Zaorálek after lengthy debates. According to the museum director, the decisions were made for pragmatic, ideological, and conceptual reasons.

The founding charter of SEFO was signed by the culture ministers of the V4 countries in 2008. A year later, a research and scientific workplace of the same name was established at the Museum of Art Olomouc. In 2019, the Czech government included SEFO in the National Cultural Heritage Care program and allocated nearly 600 million crowns for its construction.