Client: The city of Mnichovo Hradiště
Location: Mnichovo Hradiště, Czech republic

1. prize in the architectural competition
The Old Prague Club Award for a new building in a historical environment 2021

The new building of the Community Centre adds a semipermeable border between the public space of the Mírová street and the semi-public school yard with the nursery garden. The building combines two separate functions related to children. On the ground floor there is a school and nursery kitchen with a school canteen. On the first floor there are the premises of the Children and Youth House and the Low Threshold Centre with separate rooms. The two external staircases leading to the first floor are also residential. To the south, towards the sports yard of the primary school and the garden of the kindergarten, the walls of the building turn into play areas: crawl spaces, auditorium, seating. This creates a height difference similar to the rocky edges of the Bohemian Paradise. The roof has extensive vegetation and an accessible wooden terrace.

The building has a solid and clear envelope. The interior, on the other hand, is variable. The ground floor provides support. On this level the house opens up generously into the street as well as to the side alley through the transparent wall of the canteen. The background facilities of the kitchen contrast with it and form a solid back, which serves simultaneously as the support of the upper floor. The canteen is divided into two, mutually separable areas (main auditorium and a smaller hall/café) with different dimensions, capacity, lighting, and atmosphere. Both the areas offer direct access to the street, each with its own entrance and doors in the glass façade. The world of games above is accessible by a staircase followed by a terrace, which is an extension of the public space below. This arrangement allows a reasonably sized  programme on the first floor. The inner flexible space is accessible from the terrace and is divisible by light partitions and furniture. There is a hall with skylights in the centre of the building, which not only serves as a thoroughfare but also can be used for various activities. The construction scheme of the building is simple. It is approximately square in shape, divided into individual zones by internal columns or walls. The structure is made of reinforced concrete on the ground floor and solid wood on the first floor. The wooden windows match the materials of the flooring in colour: grey downstairs, natural wood with white glaze above. The interior walls are colourful. This highlights the freedom and flexibility of arrangement within the interior.

Competition: 2016
Planning period: 2016-2019
Construction period: 2019-2020
Opening: 9/2020
Total solved area: 1 399 m2
Built-up area: 763 m2
Total usable area: 1 132 m2 
Enclosed area: 5 100 m3

Author: Roman Brychta, Adam Halíř, Ondřej Hofmeister, Petr Lešek
Co-author: Adam Hašpica, Mária Javorová, Klára Táboříková
Collaborating architect: Tomáš Havelka, Zuzana Retterová, Rudolf Süsser

Landscaping: Pavlína Malíková, Aleš Steiner
Graphic design: Jaromír Hárovník, Ondřej Šorm
AV media: Jan Wágner
Traffic solution: Jan Špilar
Photographer: Andrea Thiel Lhotáková