Zlín Region has its Buildings of the Year, the main prize was not awarded by the jury

Congress Center Zlín - one of the awarded buildings

Zlín - The Building of the Year 2010 competition for the Zlín Region has announced its winners. The expert jury awarded the main prize in all seven categories. However, none received the highest award, the Grand Prix, from architect Pavel Novák. The Zlín Region leads the Czech Republic in the number of registered buildings in the competition. Jury members evaluated a record 61 buildings completed last year.
The main prize in the category of Public Amenities, which had 19 entries, was awarded to the Congress Center Zlín. The winner in the Housing category was an apartment building in Otrokovice from five registered entries. Among three family homes, the jury rated the family house in Zlín on Nivách the highest. From five industrial and agricultural buildings, the main prize went to the revitalization of the production complex of Jelínek – furniture manufacturing. The main prize in the category of Transport, Engineering Structures, and Ecological Constructions was awarded to the transportation terminal in Uherský Brod – access bridge. The expert jury selected it from six buildings. Among 14 revitalizations of development projects for towns and villages, the City Swimming Pool in Luhačovice won, which also received a special award - the Journalists' Prize. From nine buildings completed outside the Zlín Region, the jury rated the first phase of the reconstruction of the Eliška building in the spa of Velké Losiny the highest. The Governor's Prize went to the reconstruction of the Hotel Alexandria in Luhačovice.
"We have previously awarded the Grand Prix to truly exceptional buildings that are unconventional, with which we have no experience here. By that I mean the conversion of buildings in the former Svit industrial complex. All the buildings awarded this year are of a very high standard. However, none of them were something so innovative, so exceptional,” said Dagmar Nová, the chairwoman of the expert jury and chief architect of Zlín, to ČTK today.
The chairman of the regional company of the Union of Entrepreneurs in Construction, Petr Mikulec, pointed out that the record number of registered buildings does not necessarily indicate a revival of the construction market. "This is a result of construction activities from previous years ... Many construction firms are experiencing a crisis, a lack of work,” he told ČTK. He added that in the first months of this year, companies in the Zlín Region report a decline in construction orders.
This year, the student segment of the competition was also present. For the title of Most Valuable Student Work, 29 students from secondary schools with a focus on construction competed this year. They were tasked with developing a study of the architectural and construction part of a multifunctional building on Mostní Street in Valašské Meziříčí. Michal Bělovský from Zlín Secondary Technical School won.
Apprentices in construction fields were also awarded, representing the Zlín Region with excellent results in national competitions. Marek Goiš and David Daňhel from Otrokovice Secondary Vocational School received awards for first place in the category of two-member teams in the bricklaying field at the apprentice competition in construction trades. Rudolf Mahdal from the Secondary Vocational School received an award for third place in the plumbing field in the tenth year of the national knowledge competition of the Association of Plumbers and Installers of the Czech Republic.