The former trade union house in Prague will not be proposed for higher protection by the ministry

Prague - The Ministry of Culture (MK) will not propose to the government to declare the former Trade Union House in Prague’s Žižkov district, which its current owners call the House of Joy, as a national cultural monument. The National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) requested a tightening of the protection for the house, which is declared a cultural monument and whose owners plan to renovate it. The ministry informed ČTK today that the current consideration of the proposal to declare the House of Joy a national cultural monument is pointless.

Both immovable and movable objects are declared cultural monuments after assessment by experts from the Ministry of Culture, but national cultural monuments are declared by the government on the proposal of the MK.

The owners plan to convert the building in Winston Churchill Square into up to 650 rental apartments for 1.5 billion crowns. Municipal heritage conservationists, whose opinion is crucial for the construction permit, previously approved the renovation. However, the state NPÚ strongly opposed this, turning to the Ministry of Culture.

The state heritage conservationists particularly disliked the plan for new construction in the areas of the current closed courtyards. The review proceeding initiated at the prompting of the NPÚ, which disagreed with the positive opinion of the heritage conservationists of the Prague City Hall, was halted by the ministry. However, the ministry did not find any errors in it, so the currently suspended permitting process will be able to continue.

"The Department of Heritage Care of the Prague City Hall issued a binding opinion allowing quite a drastic renovation of the House of Joy in Prague, so the consideration of the proposal to declare the House of Joy a national cultural monument is now pointless," said Iva Awwadová from the MK to ČTK today.

If the building authority issues a construction permit, it is according to the MK pointless to consider a proposal for a higher level of heritage protection for the house until the renovation is completed. Then, it will be necessary to effectively redefine the heritage values of this cultural monument, the MK stated.

Last year, dozens of experts and representatives from the academic sphere, as well as the Club for Old Prague, protested against the renovation. The building, designed by architects Josef Havlíček and Karel Honzík, received media attention worldwide upon its completion in 1934, an impact that, according to proponents of preserving the building, no other Czech modern building has matched. It was declared a cultural monument in 1958.