The project for the renovation of the Tugendhat villa was flawed

Brno - The tender for the design of the Tugendhat villa was flawed, and the Brno city hall should have disqualified the winning consortium of firms. Following the Brno Regional Court, which pointed out the irregularities two years ago, the Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) has echoed this. It did not uphold the appeals from the antitrust office, which previously approved the tender, and the competition winners. This was announced today by NSS spokeswoman Sylva Dostálová. The Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) must issue a new decision that will adhere to the courts' opinions.
    The architects who complained about the tender now want to wait and see how the city responds to the judgment. Only then will they consider further steps, stated Jindřich Škrabal, a member of the design team. However, the city is not currently considering the annulment of the original tender from 2003; nonetheless, it has commissioned two independent legal analyses, said Deputy Mayor of Brno Ladislav Macek (ČSSD) to ČTK today. These analyses are to determine whether the municipality can use the projects by the consortium led by Omnia for the reconstruction. According to the courts, this consortium did not meet the competition conditions.
    The villa, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage list and has belonged to the city of Brno since 1994, has been waiting for a major renovation for several years. The reconstruction is expected to involve almost everything, including structurally compromised foundations. The project cost the city nine million crowns. However, it is important to know what price different design teams calculated for the reconstruction. Omnia mentioned 200 million CZK. Architects Ludvík Grym, Jan Sapák, and Jindřich Škrabal, who finished second in the joint project, claim that repairs could be done at a lower cost.
    The winning project for the reconstruction is completed and submitted; Omnia has also completed the changes in the static part requested by the conservationists, stated head designer of Omnia Vítek Tichý. "I do not believe that all of this should result in the annulment of the contract for works between the city and the winning consortium," Macek noted. Nevertheless, he wants to wait for the lawyers' opinions. Škrabal demands that the city annul the results of the selection process and choose the winner again from the dozen candidates.
    It was actually Sapák, Škrabal, and Grym who requested the disqualification of the winning consortium of firms Omnia, Archatt, and Archteam from the selection process back in 2003 at the ÚOHS. The companies had not registered activities in the commercial register that would allow them to prepare the project. The necessary qualification requirements were demonstrated only by subcontractors hired by the companies.