DRUZBA DEPARTMENT STORE

ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE
2016

The building was built at the turn of the 1970/80 named Dum prodeje (department store). The retail area currently occupies the greater part of the ground floor and a part of the 1st floor.The urbanistic design followed the original design to the maximum extent: the entrances to the building and relation between different functions in connection to the surroundings. Only a new staircase was designed providing a separate entrance to the offices that should be established next to the east entrance to the shopping mall.Thanks to undisputable architectural qualities, a timeless building was constructed, by its artistic concept well meeting even modern standards; thus the new architectural design was intentionally conformed to the existing condition of the building. The façade morphology will be in fact preserved, just upgraded to modern technological knowhow. The existing curtain wall will be replaced by a modular façade as articulated as it is now.The only outstanding feature will be the new staircase connecting all stories including the basement. The architectural design builds on materials built in the existing structure; this is why the new staircase is designed helical with a newel and cast in-situ flights complemented by a curtain wall made from broken metal sheets on a steel structure. The shape of the staircase is designed as a counterpoint to the rational design of the whole building, as a dynamic volume resulting from the helical curve of the stair flights, the same as the original ones.

Category:

Offices and retails

Client:

Jednota s.d. České Budějovice

Built project:

2016

City:

České Budějovice