In the competition for the future design of the barracks in Jičín, 4 studios advance to the 2nd round

Jičín - The architects' competition for the design of new development on the eight-hectare site of the former barracks in Jičín has entered its second round. From the six submitted studios, the evaluation committee selected four candidates. They now have to refine their proposals and submit them to the city by October 7. The winning designs will then be presented to the public, said the city hall spokesperson Magdaléna Doležalová today. In an attractive location near the city center, a new residential district is expected to begin developing in a few years.
    The city originally expected to receive more offers from architects. "Because more than 80 architectural studios downloaded the assignment from our website," said the mayor Jiří Liška (ODS). The evaluated proposals are anonymous according to the rules of the Czech Chamber of Architects, so even the jury does not know the authors. They will find out after the end of the second round. "Further details cannot be communicated at this stage according to the competition rules," said the city's architect Radek Jiránek.
    In the first round, the teams of architects sought the basic idea of the location. In the second round, the advancing studios will incorporate the comments of the evaluation committee into their proposals and submit a concrete design for the area. The outcome of the competition should be a study based on which the area will be defined by rules for subsequent construction. The three best proposals will share a prize of 165,000 crowns.
    The architects' proposals should comply with the zoning plan and the already approved housing development in the neighboring first-republic villa district of Čeřovka. The study should also take into account future city investments in infrastructure of up to a maximum of 30 million crowns. After the construction of the networks, the city intends to offer the area to private investors. The town hall estimates that this could happen as early as 2016.
    Last year, Jičín had most of the barracks buildings demolished. This year, the city hall had the longest building along the famous linden alley and the rear wing next to a smaller secondary building demolished. Two end buildings towards the center will remain, and the city will seek their use.
    Initially, private investors were supposed to redevelop the barracks site. However, neither of the two attempts to hand the barracks over to private individuals materialized, and the city ultimately decided in 2011 to continue with the revitalization itself.