So far, the building, which is approximately 150 years old, has been used by a diocese of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, and it has shop premises on the ground floor. Sited within a pedestrian zone, the developer – the Brno diocese of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church – has decided to make the building more attractive and its interiors more comfortable.
The reconstruction costs approximately CZK 25 million and the structure is being developed to facilitate further office space for businesses, as well as for residential purposes. It will feature space for a shopping arcade, a passenger and goods lift, and there will be four brand new attic flats.
At present the structure has four storeys above ground and a basement with brick vaults. The cool temperatures of this space make it eminently suitable for use by wine merchants.
The reconstruction will affect old ceilings over the first three floors, which will get new H-steel girders and concrete slabs, which are to be placed into profiled steel plates. Moreover, ceilings on existing storeys need partial reinforcing. This involves removing old floors, including the filling and laying reinforced concrete slabs on sheathing boards bonded with new materials making up the floors.
On the fourth floor, above a wooden ceiling, a floor load bearing structure will be fitted, a new truss, as well as flooring for new flats. In addition, project documentation deals with new lines of plumbing and sanitary systems, central heating, gas, air-conditioning and electrical wiring.
Plasterboard will be used for ceiling undersides in the whole building, the current windows will be replaced by Euro windows, and doors will be coated with foil.
Windows will be placed in the roof on the side facing the street and, from the rear, there will be a series of dormer windows with a balcony door enabling access to a newly built balcony.
The building stands on a corner of an extremely busy pedestrian zone, where the Česká and Joštova streets cross in the centre of Brno. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the amount of space taken up in the streets and roads by essential restrictions, not to mention keeping the time of disruption to a minimum. The handing over of the finished project to the developer has been scheduled for April 2007.