The competition for the hall in České Budějovice was won by architects from Wilkinson Eyre + Boele

České Budějovice – The architectural competition for the center of ball sports in České Budějovice has been won by the British-Czech association Wilkinson Eyre + Boele architects. The estimated costs for the construction of the hall are 1.2 billion crowns. An additional approximately 400 million crowns will be needed for the construction of an ancillary parking garage. The architects from Wilkinson Eyre, among other projects, participated in the preparation of buildings for the Olympic Games in London and Rio de Janeiro. This was stated by representatives of the South Bohemian Region to journalists. The region and the city will be investors and will also apply for funds from the National Sports Agency.

The construction of the hall with a capacity of 5,000 spectators could begin next year and be completed in 2028. The facility is intended to be multifunctional and could be used by organizers of cultural events or congresses. A total of 29 interested parties applied for the architectural competition. "We selected nine of them, and most were from abroad. This confirmed that we succeeded in preparing an internationally interesting project,” stated the South Bohemian governor Martin Kuba (ODS). The costs for the architectural competition totaled 9.4 million crowns, and the winner received 2.4 million crowns.

"The whole project includes not only the construction of the center for ball sports but also the modification of the entire space in front of the exhibition center, where the hall will be located. A new square and other buildings will be created there,” Kuba stated.

Even though the facility will be called the center for ball sports, it is intended to be multifunctional. Organizers of cultural events or various congresses could use it. "And we wanted the area in the hall to meet the criteria for international matches of multiple sports. So that we do not later find out, for example, that handball matches cannot be played there because the court is missing half a meter," Kuba pointed out. He added that, for this reason, representatives of the region held discussions with the federations of handball, volleyball, basketball, floorball, and futsal.

All major sports facilities in Budějovice are located along the Vltava River. "It's quite unique. By the river, there is a football stadium, an ice rink, a swimming pool, and further, the ČEZ sports complex for summer activities, and we also plan to have the center for ball sports and subsequently a water park,” the governor stated.

In České Budějovice, there is a large hall at Na Dlouhé louce, which was built in the 1970s. The Jihostroj volleyball players, who are among the country’s elite, play their matches there. However, the hall no longer meets capacity requirements, and its parameters also no longer satisfy the demands for international matches.