Dostavba Jihočeské vědecké knihovny - průběh soutěže

On Friday, December 23, 2016, the deadline elapsed during which architects submitted their competition proposals for the completion of the South Bohemian Science Library after six weeks of intense work. The goal of the ongoing architectural competition is to expand the capacity for free selection of books, assess the quality of the existing building, and also to find a concept for the further development of the public space around the library. Based on references, the expert jury selected four ateliers from a total of 27 submitted applications: Projektil, OV-A, Kuba/Pilař, and Ivan Kroupa, as well as SLLA from Slovakia and AllesWirdGut from Austria. Each of them has a number of outstanding realizations of public buildings and several Czech and international awards for architecture. High quality can therefore be expected from the proposals, and it will be possible to compare several different approaches. The jury will meet to evaluate in the first half of January, and by the end of the month, the regional councilors should approve the results of the competition. A public presentation and exhibition should follow in February.

The architectural competition has long been recommended by the Czech Chamber of Architects as the best and most transparent way to assign public contracts, where the ratio of price to quality of construction can be well assessed. This approach is also recommended by the new law on public procurement and the government-approved Policy for Architecture of the Czech Republic. From the competition, for example, Long Bridge, the park in Čtyři Dvory, or the Community Center Máj were created in České Budějovice, which is nominated for the prestigious European architecture award Mies van der Rohe Award.

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The South Bohemian Science Library is located in the former Museum of the Labor Movement building, constructed between 1971-75 according to the design of Jan Malát, Jiří Vítem, Jan Řezníček, and Miloš Sádek.