The National Library of Technology has withdrawn the lawsuit regarding the falling facade

Prague – The National Technical Library (NTK) has withdrawn the lawsuit it filed several years ago against the contractor of its building in Dejvice. Martin Krška from the NTK communication department informed ČTK about this today. The lawsuit concerned the attachment of glass blocks to the facade of the building, several of which became detached in 2017.

"NTK succeeded in the dispute regarding the defect in the facade attachment against the contractor of the NTK building. The contractor, under the pressure of the lawsuit during the dispute, voluntarily removed the claimed defect in the facade, the removal of which NTK demanded in the lawsuit. Therefore, NTK has withdrawn this part of the lawsuit regarding the removal of the facade defect,” Krška stated today.

In recent years, the library has indicated that due to unsuccessful negotiations over the removal of the defect, it filed a lawsuit against Sekyra Group. In 2019, NTK agreed to suspend the court proceedings to allow further negotiations on the repairs. Subsequently, NTK and Sekyra Group reached an agreement on how the suspension of the library's glass facade was to be repaired; the financing of the repair was also to be a subject of negotiation.

The NTK building, which was opened to the public in 2009, is covered externally with 4,500 glass panels. The building has received several architectural awards.

The National Technical Library is the largest and oldest library of technical literature in the Czech Republic. Its history dates back to 1718, and it currently has a capacity of over 1.5 million volumes. The building in the Dejvice campus primarily serves students from nearby universities. It provides around 18,000 electronic professional journals in engineering, natural sciences, and medicine remotely, as well as other services to students, educators, and researchers across the country.

The NTK building was constructed according to a design by the Projektil Architects studio. In 2010, it won a competitive exhibition Grand Prix of Architects - National Award for Architecture. The expert jury appreciated the clarity of the concept, economy, and simplicity of expression, as well as the elegant solution.