Will the train station hall in Havířov be demolished?

The Czech Chamber of Architects (ČKA) recommended to the management of Czech Railways, a.s. (ČD), and to the City Hall of Havířov to reconsider whether it is necessary to demolish the existing architecturally valuable ticket hall of the Havířov train station. At the same time, the ČKA advised that in the case of public procurement, the process should be conducted through an architectural competition, which brings the most suitable solution for the task at hand. Unfortunately, neither Czech Railways nor the city of Havířov have utilized this approach.

The City Hall of Havířov has announced a public commercial competition for the designer of a new train station hall. It is intended to replace the existing architecturally valuable structure from the 1960s, which, according to reports from Czech Railways and the city hall, is oversized and in poor condition for a long time. The city leadership welcomed the fact that Czech Railways, the owner of the hall, intends to address the situation and invest in construction. The decision-making regarding the investment is more complicated because the hall is owned by ČD, but the surrounding land belongs to the city hall. Moreover, there will be a problem with financing the construction if the city hall does not manage to secure EU grants by spring next year.
Some time ago, two studies were prepared. The city hall requested a solution for the land adjacent to the hall and the integration of the train station with other parts of the city, while ČD focused on the hall itself. Three design options emerged from ČD’s study. The first is based on preserving the existing building and its reconstruction combined with insulation. The second study also does not demolish the building, but proposes extensions and modifications aimed mainly at reducing energy losses and lowering operating costs – this option was recommended for implementation by the City Hall of Havířov. The third proposal is based on the demolition of the hall and the construction of a new terminal, which is estimated to cost approximately 180 million CZK. “After summing up the total investment costs and future operating costs for the construction, the ČD management decided on the most economical third option”, says Aleš Bartheldi from the strategy department of the General Directorate of ČD. The winning study (author Tomáš Velehradský, Brno) was also presented to the city council of Havířov, which approved it after arguments presented by ČD. It was only after an agreement between ČD and the city hall that a selection process for the designer, based on this study, was announced. “However, whether the hall will actually be demolished is still uncertain. Our primary intention is not to demolish the hall but to operate a functional terminal”, says Ing. Radoslav Basel, head of the investment construction department of the City Hall of Havířov.
Further development will also be influenced by the stance of heritage conservators. The National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) has currently expressed a critical view on the demolition of the existing station. It considers the 1960s structure to be architecturally unique and aesthetically valuable in the so-called Brussels style. Local architects are also up in arms and are reaching out to the ČKA. Architect Adam Guzdek submitted a request to the Ministry of Culture in February for the building to be listed as a cultural heritage site.
The Czech Chamber of Architects, in its letters from late October, recommended to both ČD and the City Hall of Havířov to reconsider the demolition of the building and the methods of public procurement. “Public construction should demonstrate high quality of architectural, artistic, technical, and economic solutions and should support conceptual development. When awarding contracts in construction, the sole criterion should not be the lowest price, but quality. Therefore, we cannot consider the method of awarding in this context as suitable, as it does not bring architecturally the most appropriate solution”, the ČKA writes in its letter. For significant buildings or for total investment costs of construction exceeding 80 million CZK, a public architectural competition should be conducted according to the ČKA.