The window cleaners of the Baťa skyscraper are faced with 10,000 square meters of glass

Zlín - Almost 10,000 square meters of glass await the window washers of the Baťa skyscraper, the seat of the regional office, who are working on it using special equipment. Three men are suspended on ropes, and one is in a special cabin. Their work will take four to five days, said Jan Vandík from the press department of the Zlín regional office today.

"We usually clean the exterior windows and other glass surfaces once a year and hire a specialized company for that. We also frequently clean the interior windows and glass at the elevator shafts," said František Mikulička from the economic management department of the regional office, which manages the building. The exterior windows of the Baťa skyscraper cannot be opened, as allowing this would have a negative aesthetic impact on the appearance of the building.

The Baťa skyscraper has 449 windows (of which 417 are triple windows, 28 are double windows, and 4 are single windows), which together create a surface area of 6587 square meters. When the glass surfaces of the terrace hallways, the glass facade of the assembly hall, the glazed freight elevator shaft, the light wells, and the glass entrances to the building are also included, the total glass area in the Baťa skyscraper amounts to 8495 square meters.

"However, the professional window cleaners also wash the glass of the neighboring buildings number 11 (the above-ground garages) and 12, which, like the skyscraper, are owned by the region," Vandík added, noting that the men must clean a total of 9569 square meters of glass.

The Baťa skyscraper was commissioned by Jan Antonín Baťa and built according to the design of architect Vladimír Karfík between 1936 and 1938 as the headquarters of the Baťa shoe company. The building is a significant cultural monument from the period of functionalism. The Zlín region has had its seat here since 2004, when an extensive reconstruction of the building for 630 million crowns was completed.