Ostrava narrowed down the selection of architects for the renovation of the granary, the winner will be announced in October

Ostrava - The future appearance of the historic granary in the Ostrava district of Svinov could be known by October. The architectural competition announced by the city has now advanced to the next phase. The city council has decided to reduce the number of participants in the competition and also on those who will be invited to submit competition proposals. This was announced to journalists today by city hall spokesperson Gabriela Pokorná. The cost of the reconstruction without equipment is estimated by the city at 98 million crowns. The granary is among the oldest preserved buildings in the city.

"After the appropriate administrative process, the selected participants will submit their proposals by August 24 of this year. The competition jury will convene again in September to evaluate the proposals, and the final design of the future appearance of the granary could be known in October, after another decision by the city council. Interested parties will be able to view the architectural proposals at an exhibition at the end of this year," said Pokorná.

The Svinov stone granary is a cultural monument, consisting of two adjacent buildings. The granary is located on the site of the old farmyard of the Wilczek family, where the original Svinov fortress was situated. Last summer, it was necessary to remove the roof from the granary, which was in a state of emergency.

"Our goal is to find an ideal solution for this exceptional building, which will include a library design with a multifunctional hall. A meaningful solution should blend the old with the new, reconstruct the old building and supplement it with a new one, so that the renovated building becomes the center of community life in Ostrava's Svinov and life returns to it," said city councilor Markéta Langrová (ANO).

The city has announced a single-phase project competition. It has invited three studios to submit proposals, all of which have experience in reconstructing old buildings and transforming them or in library designs. Other interested parties were able to submit applications until March 26.

"Ostrava has its charm for architects, as a total of 38 applicants originally wanted to propose a reconstruction of the building. We evaluated 36 of them, with two applications being submissions from two directly invited participants in the competition," said councilor and competition juror Lukáš Semerák (Ostravak). Among them were architects from the Czech Republic as well as interested parties from Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, and Spain. Seven companies will advance to the final phase of the competition, all from the Czech Republic. The jury includes representatives from the city, the district, and architects, with architect Petr Všetečka serving as its chairman.