A building permit has been granted for the second and final phase of the construction of Brno’s Janáček Cultural Center. This clears the way for further preparations, with the construction work itself expected to start by Spring 2022 at the latest. Image by David Přikryl and Olga Smolnikava, source: Architekti Hrůša & spol. and Ateliér Brno.
Brno, Jun 12 (BD) – The City of Brno’s project to build a modern concert hall to house the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra is one step closer, with the granting of a building permit for the second, main phase of the project: the construction of the concert hall itself.
Brno Mayor Markéta Vaňková (ODS) welcomed the news: “Obtaining a building permit has opened the way to further phases of preparation, and we are approaching what our city and region have been waiting for many years: to move from visualizations and administration to the construction itself. I hope that everything will go smoothly and that we will start construction work in the spring of 2022 at the latest.”
On Tuesday, Czech Culture Minister Lubomir Zaorálek (ČSSD) confirmed to Brno council representatives that the promised CZK 600 million contribution to the project from the Czech government will go ahead despite austerity measures, according to Marek Fišer (Piráti), Brno Council Member for Culture.
Fišer also outlined the next stages of the project: “The documentation for the construction should be completed in 11 months. In the course of this year, an acoustic model of the hall will be created under the direction of the world-renowned acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, which will be incorporated into the implementation documentation. Subsequently, we will announce a tender for the contractor.”
The six-floor building will contain a modern 1,200-capacity concert hall with Toyota’s state-of-the-art acoustics, as well as rehearsal rooms, warehouses, a recording studio, tuning and changing rooms for musicians, a box office, a café and other facilities for spectators. The building will be above a 180-capacity underground car park, built during the first phase of construction which began in February 2015.
Deputy Mayor Tomáš Koláčný (Piráti) described the concert hall as “the most important cultural investment by the city in the current decade,” emphasising that Filharmonie Brno cannot all fit on the stage at their current home of Besedni dum. The most recent development in the project was also welcomed by Marie Kučerová, Director of Filharmonie Brno: “The fact that the project has the long-term support of city management across the political spectrum testifies to the significant lack of a hall of adequate quality and capacity for the Brno Philharmonic and its listeners. After years of preparations required by such a demanding construction project, we have reached a stage where it is literally in sight.”
About the Construction
The new concert hall will be built on the corner of Besední and Veselá. A new square will be created in front of the building, proposed to be named Ludvík Kundera Square after the Brno pianist, musicologist, and the first rector of the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts.
The construction of the hall was included in the program statement of Brno City Council for the election term 1998-2002. Following an open public international architectural competition in 2002, a design by Jakub Havlas, Jan Hájek and Pavel Joba from Atelier M1 architects was chosen.
In 2018, a contract was signed for the elaboration of project documentation and the performance of author’s supervision with a team consisting of Tomasz Konior (general designer), Yasuhisa Toyota (chief acoustician) and Petr Hrůša (construction designer).
