The Zlín council selected the winning project for the renovation of the Great Cinema

Zlín – The Zlín city council has approved the winning project for the renovation of the Great Cinema, which comes from the Prague architectural studio re:architekti. Zlín mayor Jiří Korec (ANO) announced this to reporters today. About thirty offices from various countries applied for the competition, and six teams were selected for the finals last autumn, including teams from the Czech Republic, France, Slovakia, and Hungary. The Great Cinema, built in 1932 by the Baťa company, has been closed since 2016 due to structural issues, and the city intends to repair it. The estimated costs are 250 million Czech crowns, while the winning proposal anticipates around 270 million crowns. According to Korec, the proposal may still undergo slight adjustments.

The exterior of the building will remain similar, as the structure is historically protected. The changes will include partially glazed facades at the front and side of the building. "The building will be very open, and the interior space will connect with its surroundings," stated Ivo Tuček, head of the city’s spatial planning department. The proposal includes undermining the structure to create space for facilities, storage, dressing rooms, restrooms, and offices.

Also due to the requests of conservationists, the supporting steel structure of the building will be preserved. "The historical quality of the building lies in the structure; our ambition was to find a way to maintain and showcase the historical structure that does not meet current standards. We proposed that above the cinema, there would be a superstructure, a large steel beam on which the existing structure would be suspended," said Ondřej Synek, the managing partner of the re:architekti studio. Inside, people will see the historical structure, while outside there will be a band of new construction on the roof of the building.

In the large hall, which previously had a capacity of over a thousand seats, the proposal has included a small hall, thus dividing the space into a large and a small hall and a foyer. The large hall will have a capacity of 800 seats, which can be retracted to create a space with a flat floor for various events. The capacity for standing visitors will be around a thousand people. A café will be newly located at the front of the building. The small hall will have a capacity of about 200 people.

This is the first time the city has conducted the competition as a so-called competitive dialogue, allowing for intervention and feedback on the proposals. "This helped us clarify the brief for the entire renovation of the Great Cinema," said Korec. According to him, it was clear from the beginning that a cinema should remain in the building, but the operation should be as economically self-sustaining as possible. "The priority was for the cinema to function year-round and for the spaces to be dignified," noted Korec. The cinema's spaces have traditionally been used by the Zlín Film Festival for children and youth. It is now expected to host concerts, theatrical performances, as well as conferences and fairs.

"We ultimately like that the cinema will be multifunctional and that the space will be better opened up to the square," stated the mayor's deputy Miroslav Adámek (STAN). The proposal also includes potential modifications to the surroundings of the cinema and the Práce Square; in the area of the current parking lot, where the proposed café is directed, there could be an open space. The competition winner will produce the project, which should take at least a year, after which a contractor will be selected; work could therefore begin in no sooner than two years, with construction expected to last over a year.