Kladno wants to address the repairs of historically protected tower houses

Kladno - The façades and parts of the balconies of the listed tower houses in Kladno are beginning to deteriorate. Due to this, the city wants to have solutions for repairs worked out, which it aims to have ready by the end of this year so that repairs on the problematic sections can start next year. It is expected that they will be financially demanding. This was stated by the mayor's deputy Miroslav Bernášek to ČTK.
According to Bernášek, some decorative elements of the façades have particularly begun to fall off from the buildings. "We want to find a solution in cooperation with the preservationists on how to repair the falling elements," Bernášek stated. He expects that the repairs will be costly because the preservationists will insist that the decorative elements be replaced with faithful copies of the originals. However, exact costs cannot yet be estimated as they will be part of the developing repair proposal.
In recent years, the city has worked on the internal restoration of the protected houses, during which their statics were secured, elevators, heating, and electrical installations were replaced. All windows in the tower houses were also replaced because the originals were not airtight, causing drafts in the apartments. According to Bernášek, the window replacement cost about 40 percent more than anticipated because special windows had to be made according to the requirements of the preservationists. In total, the window replacement cost 80 million crowns.
The tower houses were built between 1954 and 1957 according to a design by architects Josef Havlíček, Karel Filsak, and Karel Bubeníček. The thirteen-story buildings, shaped like the letter T, feature richly structured façades made of colorful ceramic materials, and on both sides of each entrance, there are ceramic house signs depicting various animals. The authors of this decoration are Marta Jirásková, Hana Wichterlová, Břetislav Benda, and Bedřich Stefan. Each tower house in Rožďalov has over 600 windows, external doors, and display windows.