From the Kotva building, the remediation company will remove approximately 308 tons of asbestos-containing material

Prague - A remediation company is expected to remove approximately 308 tons of material containing hazardous asbestos from the building of the Kotva department store in Prague. This includes, among other things, parts of the roof and internal panels in the outer shell. With the start of the reconstruction of the building today, Prague hygienists checked the planned procedure for removing asbestos and found no deficiencies, as stated in a press release.

Asbestos is also present in fire dampers, board materials, and partition walls in the machinery room or in the elevator brake pads. "Before the start of work, Prague hygienists checked the setting of health protection principles during work and ensured the structural and technical preparedness for asbestos work," they stated. "During the inspection, the Hygiene Station of the Capital City of Prague found no deficiencies," they added.

The remediation work is being carried out by Dilmun System. Materials containing asbestos will be removed in closed spaces with concurrent air suction and filtration, while preventing the escape of asbestos through controlled movement of workers and materials between these spaces and the surroundings. Asbestos-containing waste will be transported away in airtight bags, and after the work is completed, the concentration of asbestos fibers in the air will be measured. Similar measures were implemented and checked by Prague hygienists, for instance, two years ago during the demolition of the former Telecom building in Prague's Žižkov.

Today, builders began reconstructing the Kotva department store, a year after its closure to the public, symbolically on the 50th anniversary of its opening. The modernization of the building by architects Vladimír and Věra Machonin should be completed in the last quarter of 2027.

Kotva was built as an example of a luxurious Czechoslovak department store. At its opening in February 1975, it was the fifth largest department store in Europe. Recently, it has faced competition from more modern shopping centers. The owner of the building has been Generali Real Estate since 2020.