Five studios will design the appearance of the new spa in Krnov

Krnov - Five architectural studios have advanced to the second round of the architectural competition for the design of new municipal baths in the area of the swimming pool in Krnov in Bruntál. This was recommended by the expert jury of the competition. The city will ask architects to submit their competition proposals by February 4 of next year. Dita Círová, a spokesperson for the city council, said this today. The first phase of the competition saw participation from 14 entrants not only from the Czech Republic but also from Hungary, China, Italy, and Turkey. All proposals, including those that did not advance to the next phase of the competition, will be presented to the public in the spring of next year. Construction could start in 2025 according to preliminary plans, with costs estimated at around 300 million crowns.

The chairman of the jury, Roman Brychta, who heads the Architecture IV studio at the College of Applied Arts in Prague, stated that the jury focused primarily on the context of the design solutions for the new municipal baths in the first round. "In the second round, we sent proposals with the potential to offer the best solutions," he said.

"The area offered competitors great potential in the form of a cohesive grassy area and a number of quality mature trees. For me, it was quite crucial in the evaluation how the individual competitors dealt with this offer. In this regard, there is a slight disappointment. I am also surprised that none of the competition proposals transcended the boundaries of the assignment and did not reach into the existing monotonous, boring, technocratically addressed channel of the Opavice River," added landscape architect and jury member Zdeněk Sendler.

The new baths are to be built on city-owned land with a total area of 13,200 square meters. By connecting the existing outdoor swimming pool with the new municipal baths, a sports and relaxation center will be created, linking to the city’s sports infrastructure along Petrovická Street. The new municipal baths are planned to include a swimming pool, a relaxation pool, a sauna world, a fitness center, and supplementary services for these operations. Parking and transport connections to the area are also planned.

The competition itself will cost the city 4.2 million crowns. The city council will pay an additional 15 million by 2024 for the preparation of project documentation. The total project costs are expected to be around 300 million crowns. The design phase is set to begin in January 2022 and is expected to last two years, with the preliminary construction start date set for 2025. The aquapark is then expected to be put into operation in 2026.

"When we saw the specific competition proposals, it hit us. The dream of us and many Krnov residents is finally taking concrete shape. I appreciate that the vast majority of architects managed to propose an investment and operationally modest solution that is accessible to the city. The authors of the five selected proposals still face a lot of work to meet the jury's requirements," said Tomáš Hradil (Krnov Patriots), the mayor of the city, regarding the competition.