The Building of the Year of the Hradec Králové Region is the EPO1 Contemporary Art Center in Trutnov

Hradec Králové - The title of Construction of the Year for the Hradec Králové Region 2023 was awarded today to the Center for Contemporary Art EPO1, which was created in a more than one-hundred-year-old building of the former power plant in Trutnov in the Poříčí district. The investor is the company Kasper Kovo. The EPO1 Center became the absolute winner of this year's 20th edition of the competition, stated the regional authority, which is the main organizer of the event. Builders, investors, and architects submitted a record 30 constructions, compared to 19 last year.

The EPO1 Center was designed by the Náchod-based company Atelier Tsunami, and since 2020, it has been built by Trutnov entrepreneur Rudolf Kasper and his wife at the cost of tens of millions of crowns. The grand opening took place in May. The Kasper family built the EPO1 Center using their own money without subsidies or grants.

It is a multifunctional five-story complex in a brick structure. The Center for Contemporary Art EPO1 features an exhibition area of 3,400 square meters. The building offers indoor exhibition spaces, an open-air exhibition, accommodation for artists, a café, and an administrative section. The extensive facility is located in the manufacturing area of the Kasper Group, which is engaged in mechanical production and wood processing.

The award for Construction of the Year in the category of transport and engineering structures was given by the jury to the footbridge for pedestrians and cyclists over the Elbe River in Hradec Králové. The 103-meter-long and 5.7-meter-wide bridge cost 175 million crowns. It was the largest completed investment by the city in recent years.

An honorary mention was awarded today by the expert jury to the creators of the reconstruction of Husova Square in Česká Skalice in the Náchod region. In the category of civic and residential buildings, the honorary mention went to the Center for Comprehensive Professional Support for Clients with Hearing Impairments at the Secondary School, Primary School, and Kindergarten Štefánikova in Hradec Králové. The jury's special prize was awarded to the Cultural House Kvasiny in the Rychnov region. The Ministry of Industry and Trade award went to the authors of the project for the new construction of apartment buildings in Dobruška Mírová.

The title of Construction of the Year for the Hradec Králové Region 2022 was awarded last year to the reconstruction of an unused hospital building into a senior home in Opočno in the Rychnov region. In previous years, this title was also awarded to the reconstruction of the Gallery of Modern Art in Hradec Králové, the reconstruction of the Kuks Hospital, the Komenský Bridge in Jaroměř, the cable car to Sněžka, the Uffo community center in Trutnov, the premises of the regional headquarters Regiocentrum Nový pivovar, or the building of the Hradec Králové study and scientific library.

The regional Construction of the Year competition is organized by the Hradec Králové Region, along with the Czech Chamber of Authorized Engineers and Technicians Active in Construction, the Czech Union of Civil Engineers, the Union of Entrepreneurs in Construction, and the Czech Chamber of Architects. The competition is a non-advancing equivalent of the national Construction of the Year competition.