The owner of the Prague Transgas file can demolish the buildings

Prague - The owner of the Transgas complex on Prague's Vinohradská Street can demolish the buildings. To date, no one has filed an appeal against the demolition decision. Lenka Prokopová, spokesperson for Prague 2, informed ČTK. The owner of the complex, HB Reavis, wants to build several new structures in its place. The intention to remove buildings, which the state has refused to protect as a monument, has provoked criticism from some experts.

"To date, no appeals regarding the removal of the former Transgas complex have been received by the construction department of the City District of Prague 2. Therefore, today the builder picked up the verified project documentation and had the legal force of the decision marked, dated January 29, 2019," Prokopová told ČTK. Based on the issued permit, the owner has two years to demolish the complex once the legal force is obtained.

The owner plans to fence the property in the coming days to ensure safety around the construction site. "First, we will install temporary mobile fencing, which will later be replaced by a permanently anchored fence. These works will take at least 14 days," Kristýna Křemenová, speaking for HB Reavis, informed ČTK today. The clearing of the interiors will also begin, along with the delivery of equipment. The company will install scaffolding with anti-dust tarpaulins and water screens.

"Only after that will we begin the gradual dismantling of the above-ground structures. This is not a one-time action, but a process lasting several months, during which no drastic methods such as blasting will be employed," Křemenová stated. All works, according to her, will be environmentally friendly, and mobile cleaning machines will tidy up any debris on the adjacent roads. The company promises to inform in advance about any encroachments or closures in the area on www.vinohradska8.cz or on the similarly named Facebook page.

The building authority issued the demolition permit on January 9. From the moment the last participant in the proceedings picked up the decision on January 14, a fifteen-day deadline for filing an appeal began. It expired on January 29, but the office waited several more days to see if any appeal was delayed in delivery.

The owner of the building informed the office in February 2016 that he planned to demolish the complex. HB Reavis wants to build a multifunctional building on the vacated site according to the design of the architectural studio Jakub Cigler Architekti. According to earlier statements from the developer, it could be completed by early 2021.

The former Transgas Central Dispatch Gas Plant and the Ministry of Fuel and Energy stand a short distance from Wenceslas Square, beneath the building of Czech Radio. It is the work of the team Jindřich Malátek, Ivo Loos, Zdeněk Eisenreich, and Václav Aulický. The intention to demolish the complex has sparked debates about the architecture from the socialist era, which has both supporters and critics.

The Old Prague Club attempted to protect the complex of buildings from demolition and proposed to the Ministry of Culture that they be declared a monument. The Prague office of the National Heritage Institute did not recommend the declaration and stated that "the complex does not create an urban-forming environment and harms the environment of the urban monument zone in terms of mass and scale." The Ministry did not declare the buildings as monuments.

Supporters of the building evaluate it as an excellent example of stylistically synthetic architecture from the 1970s, combining elements of brutalism, technicism, and postmodernism, as well as a unique realization of postmodern urbanism in the Czech territory.