Architects transformed Strojař into a town hall and a home for the elderly

Prerov - The seven-story abandoned dormitory Strojař, which Prerov can acquire for free from the Ministry of Defense, could in the future be transformed into the headquarters of the city council, a home for seniors or a space for budding entrepreneurs. The city was advised by students from the Brno Faculty of Architecture, who were invited by the city hall to examine the potential uses of the building. Over twenty students spent more than 1000 hours on proposals that addressed not only the structure but also its surroundings. The city can acquire Strojař for free if it finds a public use for the next ten years. The proposals must be submitted to the ministry by the end of March.
    "It opened our eyes to what we can do with the building; these are paths we can take. On Wednesday, we will evaluate the proposals at the city in terms of finances as well. Some of them were interesting, but financially so demanding that they could not be implemented. So we might only go to the ministry with some of them," said city councilor and architect Jan Horký to ČTK today.
    Among the five proposals presented was, for example, the use of the building as the city council headquarters with underground parking. "Currently, there are 11 locations in the city where city offices are situated. We believe it would be best to place them all in one building," one of the workshop students stated during the presentation on Sunday. The students also transformed Strojař into a home for seniors connected by common spaces to social housing. There were also proposals to convert the dormitory into an administrative building, a business incubator, or small apartments. The students proposed utilizing part of the space for a library or gallery as well. "If we were to acquire the building from the ministry, it would be appropriate to announce an architectural competition. The students' work allowed us to think about what we want and specify our requirements," Horký added.
    The Strojař dormitory was vacated by soldiers at the end of 2013. The building has a capacity of 369 beds in 144 rooms and is accompanied by land covering an area of 5142 m². The ministry initially offered the property for sale for 62 million crowns, a figure that has gradually decreased to 46.5 million crowns. Prerov wants to acquire Strojař out of concern that it could become another dormitory, of which there are already two dozen in the city. The new city's leadership managed to negotiate a transfer for free at the end of last year, but a condition is to find a public benefit use for Strojař. The representatives of Prerov also obtained preliminary approval for such a transaction from the Ministry of Finance.