VŠUP rejected the building in Ďáblice, wants a smaller building

Prague - The Academy of Art, Architecture, and Design (VŠUP) has abandoned its project to build a new building in Prague-Ďáblice, which it had been preparing for ten years. Today, the school's leadership believes that the capacity of the new building would not be utilized, and they want to acquire a smaller building for less money, for example by renovating some industrial building in Prague.
This was stated to ČTK by the first vice-rector of VŠUP, Filip Suchomel, noting that the plan is ready for discussion in the government. Funding for the new building is still included in the relevant ministerial program for this year.
VŠUP purchased land in Ďáblice in 1998 because after restitution and rising rental prices, it had to leave its premises in Prague 1 and 7, where it had workshops and studios. The construction of the Ďáblice building was intended to address the lack of space for education and for the placement of new technologies necessary for teaching. The school, or rather the state, purchased over 7,000 square meters of land from the municipal district for nine million crowns.
During the preparation of the project in 2004, it was discovered that the land was contaminated with petroleum substances. For the remediation of the old environmental burden from the 1960s and 70s, the state paid 75 million crowns in 2006 and 2007; another 20 million was invested in land modifications. In October 2007, a building permit was issued, and in January 2008, a tender was held for the contractor of the first phase of construction. However, all offers were above the approved budget, so the tender was canceled.
At the instigation of the Ministry of Education, the school's leadership began to re-evaluate the construction costs and its spatial needs at that time. Since November 2008, the school started to consider that it would not need as much additional space and sought a new solution with the Ministry of Education that would save space, operating costs, construction costs, and improve transportation connections between the main and new buildings.
This March, the school submitted a new investment plan to the ministry for acquiring a second building, or rather for renovating one of Prague's brownfields. However, it does not rule out new construction, depending on how the contractor meets the requirements regarding the look and equipment of the building. At the same time, it submitted a proposal to formally terminate the original project in Ďáblice.
The original building in Ďáblice was expected to have nearly 13,000 square meters of usable space; newly the school would only need over 8,000 square meters; it has the same area in its historic building, which the school will continue to use as its main headquarters. The second building, among other things, will replace all existing rented and owned unsuitable spaces scattered throughout the metropolis.
The operating costs for the building in Ďáblice were supposed to be 15 million crowns per year; the new project should not burden the school's budget by more than nine million crowns annually. The Ďáblice construction was estimated to cost 720 million crowns, of which the school was to contribute 45 million. The new building is expected to cost 490 million, and the school should contribute 80 million from the sale of unnecessary properties. This plan was not part of the original variant; the school also wants to dispose of the spaces it is renting, thus losing 6,000 square meters of workshops and studios that would be created in the new building.
The location of the old Ďáblice is also unsuitable because students from Palach Square would travel over an hour there - the school had counted on a different public transport service on metro line C than what is currently available. Now the school wants the new building to be accessible within 20 minutes by public transport from the main building. A condition of the new investment plan is that the construction contractor will also have to purchase the land in Ďáblice.
The change in perspective on the school's needs is related to personnel changes in the leadership of the art school. After ten years of preparations, the school abandoned the construction in Ďáblice at a time when the current leadership, led by rector Pavel Liška, had already been in office for a year.