“The contractor has 22 months to complete the works, starting from the date of construction site handover. The Municipality is expected to “be given the keys” to the new municipal building in October 2025,” said Mayor Vrána, who emphasized that for the renovation of the building, the Municipality had received a grant of more than CZK 167 million. Its new look was designed by the studio Anagram&Gruppa.

“Once the contract is signed, we expect to take over the construction site and gradually start the construction works. In the first six months, we will carry out demolition works, remove the roofing, facade, and interior walls to expose the supporting steel structure of the building, which will remain intact,” said Zdeněk Pokorný, describing the start of the works. He went on to detail: “For new reinforced concrete elements – such as elevator and utility shafts, sprinkler tank and staircases – we will use only concrete mixes with a reduced carbon footprint.” Landscaping works on the public space in front of the building are also part of the renovation project. Passersby are sure to be impressed by a cantilevered, continuous staircase that will be a distinctive architectural feature of the new building. “Also very interesting is the use of stretch metal on the southern facade to shade the interiors while at the same time providing maximum amount of natural light,” says Pokorný, describing some of the elements of the building undergoing renovation.

The Přerov Municipality will move into the five-story building in 2026. “It will house about a third of the municipal staff, i.e. about a hundred people. The building will become the main seat of the Municipality, but the town hall will remain in its current location. This will not be a problem, as both buildings are located close to each other,” said Deputy Mayor Vladimír Lichnovský. He also noted that by the time the interior of the new building is “fine-tuned”, the Municipality will have a unified visual style, which means that the interior elements will also be in line with this style. “As this is the most expensive renovation of a municipal building, we want future generations to have an opportunity to see the progress of the works. That is why we will have time-lapse cameras documenting the progress day by day,” added Deputy Lichnovský.

The current building at No. 16 TGM Square was built 54 years ago as a replacement for an old building in the historical center, but later the residents of Přerov started to complain that the building was an eyesore and simply “out of place”. Therefore, in 2020, the town council decided to buy the building from several owners for CZK 37,700,000 in order to move the municipal employees into it – and it also promised to give the property a more attractive face. To do this, the council used a competitive dialog. Out of the design proposals submitted by five short-listed teams, a seven-member committee unanimously chose the one prepared by the Anagram & Gruppa design studio. The authors of the design, Marina Kounavi, Anne-Sereine Tremblay and Jan Kudlička, stated that their goal was to create a new landmark for the town and at the same time a modern form of an observation tower. By making the facade transparent, playful, and interactive, the team of architects hopes to change the residents’ negative attitude towards the existing building.

Photo: The contract was symbolically signed in front of the building at No. 16 TGM Square. This was followed by a final tour of the building. VCES will start the renovation works in January. One of the announcements made at the press conference was that the asbestos-containing insulation panels will be removed, with special safety measures and requirements being observed.