Formerly one of the most unattractive sites in the city, Brno’s newly-reconstructed bus station, Zvonařka, is now collecting awards. The bus station performed well in the Rigips Trophy competition for Czech reconstruction projects, finishing in second place out of 43 entrants, after the Prague apartment building Na Topolce. Photo credit: Rigips Trophy National Competition
Czech Republic, June 16 (BD) – Brno’s Zvonařka Central Bus Station, a brutalist building built at the end of the socialist era, was regularly ranked at the top of polls for the most shameful part of the city until recently. Following last year’s reconstruction, however, the station performed well in the Rigips Trophy competition, which regularly evaluates dozens of building projects across the Czech Republic. Out of 43 projects entered, Zvonařka came in second place and, together with the Prague apartment building Na Topolce, will represent the Czech Republic in the international round of the competition in Athens next year. The announcement was made at a ceremony held on Thursday 2 June at the Cabaret des Péchés club in Brno.
The reconstruction of the station was initiated by architects from Chybik & Kristof Associated Architects. In collaboration with QuickBuilding Ltd, they managed to transform a rundown and claustrophobic structure into a bright and lively transport hub. The bus stops were extended and adapted for wheelchair access. Stepped ceilings in the entrance hall and special lighting pointing both to the platform and upwards to the structure provide an attractive design. The safety of the protected area of the exchange and vault is guaranteed by the plasterboard construction.
The Rigips Trophy is the national round of the Saint-Gobain Gypsum Trophy, an international competition that aims to promote the art, skill and quality of work of dry interior construction contractors (as well as architects and designers). The condition for participation is that the designed building must be built in the Czech Republic and that Rigips systems, prescribed installation rules and application instructions are used in its construction.
This year, the Rigips Trophy was awarded 2nd place in the main competition, for which the construction company received a prize of CZK 30,000. Together with the overall winner of the competition, Prague’s Na Topolce apartment building, the company will represent the Czech Republic at the Saint-Gobain International Gypsum Trophy, which will take place on 28 April 2023 in Athens, Greece.
“A total of 43 projects entered this year’s competition,” explained Radek Šafář, Sales Director of Rigips. “The expert jury evaluated their originality, but also considered the technological and technical level, i.e. how the craftsmen coped with the installation of dry construction systems using plasterboard. In particular, we always award the audience prize, which is decided by the public directly at the award ceremony,”
This year, the competition included six main categories according to the type of building. The main prize of the competition went to the Na Topolce apartment house in Prague, and third place went to the academic centre at the University of Tomáš Bat’a in Zlín. The jury nominated three projects in each category.
