In Ostrava, the construction of a concert hall will begin today, and it is set to be completed in 2027

Ostrava - Construction of a concert hall will begin in Ostrava today. The ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony will be attended by the design's author, American architect Steven Holl, and President Petr Pavel. The construction costs are approximately 2.8 billion crowns, and the entire project is expected to cost around four billion, as stated at the end of June by Deputy Mayor Lucie Beránková Vilamová (ANO). The construction of the concert hall, connected with the renovation of the House of Culture of the City of Ostrava, is expected to last until 2027. The American magazine Architizer ranked the project among the ten most anticipated buildings in the world in 2021.

The appearance of the concert hall was presented by Ostrava in July 2019 when it announced the results of the largest architectural competition in the modern history of the city. The authors of the winning design are the studios Steven Holl Architects from New York and Architecture Acts from Prague. The new complex will be used as a musical, cultural, production, and educational hub and will also be the home of the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava.

The concert hall is set to have 1,300 seats. The project also includes, for example, a theater hall with a capacity of 490 seats, a chamber multifunctional hall with 515 seats, a lecture multifunctional hall with 120 seats, and an educational center with 200 seats. The complex is also expected to include a recording studio, a restaurant, a café, and other spaces.

Similar buildings, like the Ostrava concert hall, are also being planned in Prague and Brno. In the past, for example, Zlín opened a new Congress Center designed by the Zlín native architect Eva Jiřičná in 2010. In contrast, České Budějovice halted the construction project of a convention center nicknamed after its shape "Ray" which was presented in August 2008 by the famous Czech architect Jan Kaplický.