Competition at the Center for Natural and Technical Sciences UJEP

Ústí nad Labem - The J. E. Purkyně University of Ústí is preparing to build the Center for Natural Sciences and Technical Fields (CPTO). So far, it has invested 590 million crowns into the preparation. Now it has announced an architectural competition, according to which the building will be constructed based on the winning design. This information comes from today’s published announcement in the Public Procurement Bulletin.
     The newly elected rector Martin Balej perceives the construction of the center as one of the priorities. After his election, he stated that it would not be easy to convince some instructors to relocate from their existing laboratories. The university will construct the building on the campus grounds at the site of the original hospital pavilion A.
     The building, which used to be a maternity hospital, was demolished despite protests from some historians and architects. The original project for the building, completed in 1937, was the work of Ústí architects F. J. Arnold and E. Krob. At that time, the university argued that the layout of the building did not meet the needs of education and the development of science and research. It promised to hold a competition for the new building.
     Interested parties can submit proposals for the new building until April 3rd. An expert jury, mostly composed of architects, including Jan Jehlík and Jakub Cigler, will select five proposals that will proceed to the second round. "The winning project will emerge from the selected five, according to which the construction will be realized," said Zdeněk Radvanovský, the vice-rector for external relations.
     The Ústí University acquired the campus, covering an area of 90,000 m², in 2003 after the relocation of the Masaryk Hospital to the Bukov locality. The campus already houses the Faculty of Art and Design, which cost 253 million crowns to build, the Faculty of Social and Economic Studies, and others. Recently, the building of the Faculty of Philosophy was opened, with the reconstruction costs of two former hospital facilities amounting to 262 million crowns.
     UJEP is the only university in the Ústí Region; it was opened on September 28, 1991. It comprises seven faculties, has nearly 1,000 employees, and 11,000 students.