The Vrchlabí Krkonoš Museum will have a new multifunctional entrance

Preparations for the reconstruction of the exhibitions of the Krkonoš Museum of the KRNAP Administration in the building of the former Augustinian monastery in Vrchlabí began as early as 2009. Now, after years of discussions and planning, we are in the implementation phase of the Main Visitor Center, which the Administration of the Krkonoš National Park plans to open in May 2023 under the name Museum of the Krkonoš.
In April 2021, the rough structure of the new entrance to the future exhibitions was uncovered, which dialogues the abstractly natural shapes of the "rock" with the humanly consistent rectangular prism of the hall. The new object "attached" to the historic baroque building is distinctive, complements the composition of existing volumes, and connects all levels of the monastery. It allows logical links both inside and outside. Urbanistically, it is also another step towards completing the KRNAP complex as an integral part of the representative central locality of the city of Vrchlabí. The architectural aspect of the entire project has been provided since 2010 by Professor Roman Koucký and Šárka Malá from the company koucky-arch.cz, s.r.o.
The Museum of the Krkonoš is located in the building of the former Augustinian monastery, in a building originally serving a completely different purpose. We have kept this fact in mind throughout the planning of new exhibitions and the architecture of the added entrance object. The architects aimed to leverage the potential of the historic building while preserving as much of its original principle and values as possible. The advantage is that the entire new exhibition strives to take advantage of the fact that people subconsciously perceive such a building as contemplative, calm, and thus also soothing.
The basic orientation of both the monastery building and the monastery church has been preserved. The original historic entrance to the building will also remain, which will be used as a service entrance, as access to the area where short-term and seasonal exhibitions will be available, and also as a relaxation and resting space for visitors. It will remain the "domestic" entrance. The main entrance to the newly conceived museum had to be addressed newly and differently for a number of reasons.
“We took into account the layout of the monastery and its surroundings – the reconstructed monastery garden, the almost adjacent cemetery with its alley, and the position of the monastery in relation to other city center landmarks – the castle, the parish church of St. Lawrence, and the headquarters of the KRNAP Administration,” says architect Roman Koucký. The resulting architectural solution for the new entrance was chosen after many discussions. The entrance object is more an independent exhibit than a typical building or house. The architects proposed a new arrangement, with the main entrance to the exhibitions facing the city, directly connecting to the parking lot from where the largest number of visitors arrive. It not only refers to the scenario of the future new exhibitions of the Museum of the Krkonoš but primarily complements the entire area of the National Park Administration.
In the new entrance object, there are rooms without which the current museum operation could not function, and at the same time, it was only difficult to accommodate them within the structure of the former monastery building, whose layout is fundamentally preserved. The extension primarily comprises an entrance hall with a ticket office and museum shop, changing rooms, and sanitary facilities. Following the newly arranged monastery garden, there is a multifunctional lecture hall on the lower floor. A crucial element is also the elevator, ensuring barrier-free access from the lower floor at the garden level to the 2nd floor, meaning all publicly accessible areas of the monastery building. Inside the entrance hall, the narrative line of the future permanent exhibition begins.
All these needs were the reason for the addition of the new object so that the structure of the monastery building remained fundamentally preserved, even though it has been serving a completely new purpose for more than half a century. All new modifications aimed primarily at preserving the open cloister that was to be built upon according to older designs. Another fundamental requirement that was managed to be fulfilled was allowing free passage through the entire cloister on both floors. In the Museum of the Krkonoš, a part of the exhibition will be located in the cloister, where the story of the mountains and nature will take place, a story of time, where we will journey through billions of years of nature's history from the beginning to the present day. Adjacent rooms will be dedicated to humans and their relationship with the mountains. The image gallery on the upper floor, in the upper cloister, will be a completely tranquil space. It will also allow optical connection with the church (which belongs to the City of Vrchlabí). Here, visitors will walk past rooms housing the museum staff. This will connect both fundamental functions of the museum as such - a collecting institution opens to the public.
The rough structure is now receiving an insulating layer, on which a thin concrete spray finish in anthracite shade will be applied. Simultaneously, a glass facade of the entrance hall will be added, which will bear verses from Czech artist Miloš Šejn, who has been exploring the relationship between humans and nature (not only) in the Krkonoš for decades.
Professor Koucký expresses his views on the architecture of the new entrance to the Museum of the Krkonoš in an interview in the upcoming June issue of the magazine Krkonoše – Jizerské hory.
The construction part is co-financed from the project Increasing the Protection and Accessibility of the Collections of the Krkonoš Museum in Vrchlabí supported by IROP. The subsequent project of the Visitor Center of the Krkonoš National Park, financed from the OPŽP project, primarily secures the exhibition part.