<translated>Městský dům Dobříš - 2. place</translated>

Evaluation in the 2nd round of the competition
From the very beginning, the chosen concept of the open Municipal House was significantly developed and elaborated into a pleasant form in the 2nd round of the competition. The internal spaces are very welcomingly open, and the outdoor spaces on the property allow for a pleasant blending with the adjacent public areas. This is an urban house based on a fragile representation of the internal space with attributes of a public space.
From the overall brilliant representation, the decision about the placement of the café on the first floor and also the internal connection between the ground floor and the first floor comes off somewhat worse. The value of maximum universality of the space may, on the other hand, be a certain handicap for the project, especially in places where we expect a greater height of space – for example, a multifunctional hall.

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Author's report

SURROUNDINGS
The plot designated for the construction of the Municipal House is located north of the Peace Square in a part of the city with buildings from the second half of the 20th century. The development mainly consists of residential buildings scattered within a park. This “district” is unique in its structure within the city, in an otherwise predominantly block and carpet development of family houses. It is delimited to the south by Peace Square, to the north by Dukelský Square, to the west by Čs. Army and Youth Street, and to the east by Plk. B. Petrovič Street. The actual plot, sloping in the northeast direction, is bordered to the west by a preschool area, to the east by Jiří Wolker Street and the city park, to the south by Božena Němcová Street with a bus stop, and to the north by Přemyslová Street.

CURRENT CONDITION
There is a cinema building on the plot. The cinema is currently out of operation, and its building is deteriorating. Its conversion into a Municipal House with a library is unsuitable in terms of operation, functionality, economic efficiency, and construction.
The building is a cinema from the normalization period. Overall, the object is divided with regard to the floor plan into two height parts. One consists of the cinema hall with facilities for projection, and in the other, lower part, there is a foyer with a buffet and ticket office. This spatial and operational arrangement is unsuitable for the program of the Municipal House.
The construction of the hall has a serious crack on each longitudinal side leading from the roof's gutter towards the foundations. The constructions also do not meet the requirements resulting from the newly proposed function. The costs of reconstruction and adaptation of the building will certainly exceed the costs of demolishing the object.
The costs of removing the building have been estimated at 2.8 million CZK. This is a price that will certainly be offset by the functionality of the new building, which is intended to give the place a new identity, so that the Municipal House can become a new cultural center for the town of Dobříš.

CONCEPT
The footprint of the new building is in scale, rhythm, and direction with the surrounding development. The two-storey building does not attempt to deviate from the structure of the city. The Municipal House does not appear as an extraordinary building in mass. It is a common civil part of the municipality. For the overall concept of the house, the following are decisive: the neighboring city park and the structure of the surrounding buildings; shape, slope, and position of the plot; orientation to the cardinal directions; function and operation of the house.

CONTEXT
The Municipal House plot borders the city park. The area where public life currently takes place in the city is, besides the square, primarily the city park. The Municipal House is a logical continuation of this space. Therefore, the building is conceived as a pavilion in the park. It is an adequate complement to it and at the same time a backup.
The house is divided into two main masses - the larger mass on the first floor, in which the library operation is located, and the smaller mass on the second floor, where the multifunctional parts of the house are located. The lower heavy mass is partially embedded under the existing terrain. Thanks to the vegetation solution (green roof, garden, climbing plants, front gardens), this pedestal will quickly merge with the surroundings and the neighboring park. The lower mass serves as a pedestal, on which a light glazed pavilion rests and hovers in the crowns of the trees. The second floor is cantilevered towards the park. From this terrace, it is possible to observe life in the park and vice versa.
Through this division, the mass of the pavilion maintains scale and aligns with the row arrangement of houses along Jiří Wolker Street and the adjacent building of the preschool.
Equally important is the public space defined by the house. It is a protected and at the same time open space.

PLOT
The land slopes in the northeast direction. The first floor is partially embedded (1.2m) below the level of the existing terrain from the south side. Thus, the building appears to be a single-storey structure from Božena Němcová Street. From the north side, the mass of the second floor is recessed compared to the first floor, thus the northern facade does not create a height barrier.
The southern facade of the house is set back from the street line (similar to the preschool building on the adjacent property) and thus creates a public space. The space is defined by two walls extending from the building's mass itself. The western wall serves as a railing for the ramp and also separates the parking spaces from the public space. The eastern wall is punctuated by a window overlooking the park and features a "notice board" that acts as an information point on the corner. The space is divided into two parts: a paved piazzetta with urban furniture and a garden. A wide ramp, which provides access to the second floor, thus the multifunctional part of the house, serves as a piazzetta. The ground floor along Božena Němcová Street is surrounded on the north side by the city park, the library's piazzetta garden, and the preschool garden, thus creating a sort of garden ground floor.
The eastern facade is partially set back on the first floor, and the mass's cantilever on the second floor again follows the edge of the plot. The cantilever creates a shelter above the library entrance. Using the fire escape on this facade, one can access the café terrace. The notice board, window into the garden with a bench, entrance to the library, stairway, and café terrace create an urban ground floor.
The northern facade follows the edge of the plot, but in each reading room, it retreats, creating small front gardens.

ORIENTATION TO CARDINAL DIRECTIONS AND SURROUNDINGS
For the operation of the library, northern diffused light is the most suitable. The building, due to its location and height arrangement, is partially closed from the south side on the first floor and opens maximally to the north side. At the same time, a strip window from the south into the entrance hall allows for visual contact between the garden and the library. Daylight also penetrates into the library through a skylight between the open selection and reading rooms. Daylight is supplemented according to norms with artificial lighting and lighting for night operation. The library is designed as a "cave" through which diffused light penetrates from various directions. The library space is oriented to the quiet Přemyslová Street and the garden.
On the other hand, the structure of the second floor is fully glazed. The interiors open views into the lively piazzetta and the garden of the Municipal House, onto the terrace roof garden of the reading rooms, and into the park. From the south and east sides, the glass facade is shaded by the cantilever above the terrace and café terrace. From the west, south, and east, the facade is further shaded by glass louvers. This ensures thermal and optical comfort in the interior. The interior, thanks to these outdoor spaces, is not exposed but gradually blends with the exterior. The building thus also offers outdoor spaces for gatherings and play protected from the sun, wind, rain, and snow.

FUNCTION AND OPERATION
On the first floor, the library is located, while on the second floor, the "Municipal House" - essentially the multifunctional part of any contemporary library, but expanded with additional operations that complement the library and thus create a cultural and social center of the city.
Access to the second floor is through the public space ramp with a slope of less than 1:12 to the "veranda" and further into the entrance hall of the Municipal House. The service entrance is also from this veranda. The café is additionally accessible from Jiří Wolker Street via a single-arm staircase, which also serves as a fire escape route.
From the veranda, we enter a hallway (the missing vestibule is replaced by air conditioning) that connects all individual operations – offices; entrance hall with an information counter, public internet, hall, and exhibition space; information center with a game room, consulting room, and small hall or classroom, and the café. These spaces are further interconnected along the northern facade. This ensures the possibility of operating individual units separately; at the same time, they can also be interconnected. From the entrance hall, one can access the library via stairs in the atrium through a control point.
The first floor is accessed from the east from Jiří Wolker Street, which directly connects to the city park. Through the entrance hall, where the daily press reading room is located, one can reach the lending and information counter through a control point. Further on to the adult and children's free selections. The library space itself is organized using a corridor between the reading rooms and free selections. The individual reading rooms and classrooms are separated by load-bearing walls, thus creating intimate spaces where readers are not disturbed by surrounding activities. Each reading room has a different clear height: from 3 to 4 meters increasing towards the glazed windows of the northern facade.

Vegetation - The building is designed in mass such that the free space of the garden with its life and the green mass of the trees permeate the building and create a zone of tranquility. The existence of two trees is essential for the spatial composition, significantly complementing the structure, creating a cozy space suitable for study and relaxation, and simultaneously integrating the building into the context of the surroundings – involving it in the surrounding green mass of the park. Two existing willows (Salix alba subsp. tristis) serve this spatial formation purpose, provided their health condition allows for it, and any interventions do not damage their habitual character. For this reason, a dendrological assessment of the state of the trees with a prognosis of their development will be carried out after the demolition work. If it is not possible to maintain the quality condition of these trees in the long term, it would be appropriate to carry out replacement planting that would have a similar mass effect.

Traffic service and parking - Traffic service is provided by the surrounding existing communications, primarily the one-way Božena Němcová Street. A bus stop is proposed on this road, ensuring access to public transport. Pedestrian access is ensured by the proximity of the city center and through the proposed Husův Park. A bike rack is located at the piazzetta.
In the western part of plot parcel no. 1096/46 KN and partially on parcel no. 1096/47, there are 15 angled parking spaces with a slope of 75% and a width of 4.8m. The current function of the one-way thoroughfare is maintained at a width of 4.6m.
Supplies are enabled from this communication via the "veranda," which can serve as a "loading ramp," or through the public space from Božena Němcová Street.

Construction - The construction of the house is designed with maximum regard for the variability of the layout. The load-bearing structure of the house is designed as a reinforced concrete monolithic skeleton. The main vertical load-bearing elements are transverse monolithic walls and columns with beams. Ceiling slabs, due to significant spans (11.5 x 7.2 m), are designed as beam structures with inverted beams and rafters. The actual thickness of the ceiling slabs is uniformly chosen at 180mm.
The beams consist of monolithic reinforced concrete walls on the second floor. This achieves a small thickness of the ceiling slab and uniformity of the ceiling on the first floor. This structure is complemented by inverted beams in the longitudinal direction, which create cavities for the necessary installations.
Cantilevered structures on the second floor are always located in the exterior. The cantilever structures are made of steel load-bearing profiles connected to the building's structure using thermally insulated load-bearing connections. This achieves the necessary subtlety of the ceiling slabs.

Foundation - The object is founded on rocky subsoil. The level of the foundation joint is located a maximum of 2m below the current natural terrain, so excavation work will not be financially or technically demanding. The balance of excavations and fills is even. The foundations consist of a foundation slab of 200mm thickness and foundation strips to a frost-free depth.

Technical infrastructure - Electrical wiring and installations will be conducted in the cavities of the ceilings with inverted beams and in a double floor grid to allow for the variability of the layout. Other installations, air conditioning, and vertical piping are routed in sufficiently dimensioned installation shafts.

Heating and cooling - will be ensured by air conditioning. Natural or forced ventilation of the spaces will ensure the required air exchange for hygienic minimums of fresh (outdoor) air. The hygiene cores will be ventilated by forced air extraction above the roof, in the quantity prescribed by hygiene regulations.

Fire safety - The fire safety of the entire building will be addressed in accordance with the requirements of standards. Safe and timely evacuation is ensured by unprotected escape routes and staircases leading to open space. There is no assembly space in the building; it is designed as one fire section.

> You can find the complete author's report and competition panels in high resolution here>