The buildings of Plzeň include centers of commerce and business and the zoo pavilion

Plzeň - The Dvořák Gallery department store, the Avalon business center, and the pavilion for African hoofed animals at the zoo, all in Plzeň, have today been named Buildings of the Plzeň Region 2007 in their respective categories. The competition, which saw a record 30 buildings entered, is gaining increasing prestige among architects, designers, contractors, and investors, and even the nomination is an award, said Anna Hostičková, chairwoman of the jury, to ČTK.
    Special prizes were awarded to a new family villa under Sylván for its original design executed with excellent quality. In the category of renovations, the Sekt Gallery in the Bohemia Sekt complex in Starý Plzenec was honored for its original design of a prestigious space in the historical part of its premises, and the Museum of the Border Region in Kdyně for the preservation of a historical building.
    The Dvořák Gallery, which won in the new construction category, has become a new landmark of the oldest housing estate in Plzeň, Slovany. It was designed by the Prague architectural office Lewis&Hickey, with the project being developed by Plzeň's Raval. According to the judges' assessments, Slovany now have their own center thanks to the prominent boulevards. The gallery is a sufficiently voluminous building that is lightened while complementing the commercial backbone with rental spaces.
    The Building of the Year in the renovations category is the Avalon Business Center near the center of Plzeň, designed by architects Jaroslav Dokoupil and Petr Hovořák, with the project authored by AIP Plzeň. It was created from a block of former printing plants from the 1930s. The core consists of office spaces grouped around a new courtyard with greenery, water, and maximum glazing.
    In the category of sports and leisure buildings, the pavilion for African hoofed animals at the Plzeň zoo won, designed by the Plzeň HBH atelier. "At first glance - Africa!" the judges evaluated. According to them, a sober and elegant object was created using simple means.
    Out of the 30 submitted buildings, 11 made it to the shortlist. According to Hostičková, the designs improve year by year, with no low-quality entries appearing this year. For the first time, an interior - a gallery of fermentation producers - appeared in the competition.
    All buildings can apply for the Building of the Year Czech Republic competition, which was won in 2003 by the reconstructed Plzeň Municipal House, and four years earlier by the new building of the district office in Plzeň's Slovany.
    The best buildings of the Plzeň Region in 2006 were the Plzeň hotel U Zvonu, the Jewish memorial in Hartmanice in the Klatovy region, the highway tunnel at Valík, and the reconstruction of the Kalikovský Mill in Plzeň.