Renovation of a historic factory in Brněnec, Czech republic

Southern Federal University Academy of Architecture and Arts

Project idea

The renovation of a historic factory in the village of Brněnec, Czech Republic, is a unique architectural project combining museum and residential functions. The northern section of the complex includes multi-mass volumes of simple and complex shapes with the preservation and restoration of some objects decorated mainly with dark tones, with a highlighted white volume at the entrance, which embodies the dominant architectural ensemble. The southern section is represented by complex curved shapes that emphasize the terrain and symbolize life, mostly made in light tones. The renovation of the factory for a museum and residential function is designed to preserve the historical heritage of the village of Brněnec, revealing its potential for public use. The complex combines elements of various styles and traditions, creating an attractive and harmonious space for residents and visitors. The master plan takes into account the transport and functional logistics linking the complex with the village and other settlements. The territory is landscaped, including pedestrian areas, recreation areas and observation decks.

The architectural concept of the entire complex is based on the contrast of life and death. The residential part is made in curved shapes with an abundance of greenery and a predominance of light tones. The museum part has more strict forms, in dark colors, with the exception of the building of the new museum, symbolizing the "ark" and the incompleteness of the Jewish history and one pillar in the open museum, a symbol of hope and the continuation of life after all the torments.

Project description

The residential complex includes two types of housing, a hotel, a house-museum, a mini-shopping center with underground parking, two water areas and two types of playgrounds. Entrances to the territory are carried out from the south-eastern, northern, and western parts. In the western part of the territory, the relief drop is 7.5 m.
Housing: multi-apartment sectional modular, blocked two-storey. The housing complex is located at about 0.000 and is a typical modular housing from 2 to 5 floors with an operational roof and one elevator node in each. There are three types of apartment housing: one-room, two-room and three-room. There is an atrium space inside. Artistic expressiveness is created due to the shifts on the facades and the abundance of greenery, which in turn are created due to the difference in the modules of residential cells. The blocked housing is located at different elevations from +4.450 to +7.350. It is a typical two-storey housing with an exploited roof. Three types of houses. Artistic expressiveness is achieved through a combination of modular blocks, a terraced panoramic rear facade and a solid wooden wall with a frieze at the main facade. The hotel is not being developed in detail, has a terraced structure, is fenced with a green fence from the whole residential area and has its own parking lot. The house-museum at about 0.000 is being restored and allocated for a museum function. It has its own parking lot. The mini-shopping center is located at +3.200. It is not developed in detail, performs the function of leisure for local residents, is oriented to the road with west, has its own courtyard, on the -1 level there is an underground parking for local residents. The river bends around the site from the east, in the future there will be an embankment for residents and visitors, an artificial pond will be organized in the south of the site, which performs the function of a quiet recreation area for residents. Also on the territory of the residential complex there are children's and school playgrounds, at 0.000 and 3.350 meters respectively.

The museum complex includes 6 main blocks: an entrance hall with a cinema and lecture hall and a restaurant with 100 seats, a new museum, an internal partially closed communication with a temporary exhibition, World War II museum, a memorial museum, an open museum. Main entrance to the territory is carried out from the northern to southern.
The first block (entrance) is proposed to be built from scratch from chameleon aluminum composite panels. One floor, inside there is a restaurant with 100 seats, a cash register, a wardrobe and a cinema and lecture hall. The second block (the new museum) is proposed to be built from scratch with a single-pitched roof with a height of 28-16m, facades made of translucent plastic with backlight. The main facade has a window opening through which light enters, as well as two cone-shaped walls made of fibred concrete with text inscriptions. Internal space, it is proposed to place an exposition dedicated to the history of the Jewish people, developing a media panorama spiraling along the perimeter along the walls. In the center there is an atrium space with a core hovering through the levels, to which escalators lead. On the last level (approx. +12.000) there is a holographic exposition. The third block (communication) is a partially enclosed area-communication. Performs the function of recreation and rest after visiting the expositions. Temporary exhibitions can also be placed inside. Allows you to visit most of the expositions within a single warm contour. Awning structures are used for the exterior. The fourth block (the World War II museum) is proposed to build a new volume of sandwich panels of metal profile, while preserving the historical contour of the walls. The original walls will be partially located outside and partially inside the building as part of the exposition. The block is made on the same level with a height of +7.500, it is allocated for museum and service functions. The museum will feature an exposition dedicated to the Second World War and separately in the north-eastern part an exposition of textiles from the original factory. In the northern and northwestern parts there are storage facilities, workshops and employees of the complex. All streams of people are separated from each other and do not intersect. The new facades are made in black, in the part of the building which is located further from the entrances there are light lanterns in the roof, in the part of textiles on the main facade there is panoramic glazing in the height of the entire floor – each window opening is located on the axis of the window openings of the original brick wall inside the museum. The fifth block (memorial museum) is going to be completely restored for a museum function. It is also planned to build additional space for communication with toilets and a wardrobe. The sixth block (open museum) is a sculptural-shaped composition in the open air. In parallel with the communication, there are three rows of cylinders made of decoratively rusted metal with internal illumination. On each cylinder, the names of all the Jews who were saved at this factory by Oskar Schindler are located in a through frieze. Along the embankment line there are 5 black deformed concrete pillars and 1 white regular-shaped undamaged one.

Technical information

The structural system is frame-wall.
The construction system is monolithic reinforced concrete.
Technical specifications: The thickness of the plate is 300 mm.
The rigidity of the building frame is provided in both directions by the device of a monolithic reinforced concrete floor and the device of vertical monolithic reinforced concrete elements of rigidity (staircase and elevator nodes, diaphragms) connected to the hard disks of the floor. Lattice metal farms were used to cover large spans.
The stair lift units and diaphragms are made of monolithic reinforced concrete, 200 mm thick.
The columns are designed as monolithic reinforced concrete with a section of Ø400 mm.
The floor slabs, 300 mm thick, are made of monolithic reinforced concrete, solid, non-stick.
The staircase elements are designed with monolithic reinforced concrete.
The foundation is a monolithic ribbon.
Reinforced concrete columns: round columns with a diameter of 400 mm form the basis of the building frame. They work mainly on compression, distributing vertical loads from floors, roofs and operational loads on the foundation. Reinforced concrete floors: flat slabs with a thickness of 300mm work in combination with columns, ensuring the rigidity of floors and the distribution of horizontal loads. They also serve to transfer loads from users, equipment, and furniture.
Prestressed beams: they are used to form long spans of up to 20 meters without the need for intermediate supports. The beams work on bending, taking loads from the floors and transferring them to the columns. Prestressing allows the beams to withstand the forces causing deflection, increasing their bearing capacity and reducing deformations.
Steel farms: used in large halls to create open spaces without columns. Trusses allow you to cover large spaces and provide support for the roof and upper floors, transferring loads to external walls and columns.

Documentation

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