New Bor is preparing the construction of a wooden apartment building according to the Prodesi/Domesi project

Nový Bor – In Nový Bor, located in the Českolipsko region, they are preparing the construction of a wooden apartment building, which will cost the city 60 million Czech korunas. This construction is not yet included in this year's budget, as the town hall is waiting to see if they can obtain a grant, said Mayor Jaromír Dvořák (Starostové pro Liberecký kraj) to ČTK today. So far, there are no similar projects in the Liberec Region, even though the share of wooden buildings in residential construction is the highest in the country according to data from the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ). However, these are mostly family houses.

The building is expected to be completed within two years on Nemocniční Street, near the dormitory of the Nový Bor glassmaking school and a senior citizens' home. There used to be a crumbling house on the site, which the town hall had demolished in 2018. The architectural studio Prodesi/Domesi, which has long-term experience with wooden buildings, prepared the study for the city. The contract, which includes not only the construction of the three-story apartment building with a mansard roof but also the landscaping of the surrounding area and a community garden, was awarded to the Czech company CL-Evans.

"We are waiting to see if we get the grant because we are working with the Agency for Social Inclusion, and this apartment building could be part of that grant. It also relates to another matter, as we simultaneously want to convert the current accommodation facility into apartments, and then we will see under what financial conditions it will be possible to renovate that accommodation facility while also building the new building," added Dvořák. However, according to him, Nový Bor will proceed with the construction of the building on Nemocniční Street even without the grant.

"We are responding to the need to expand the capacity of available municipal housing. The apartments will be designated for seniors, people with mild health disabilities, as well as young families and single parents or people in key professions that we need in the city," the mayor said. According to the study, the four-story building will contain apartments sized 2+kk and 3+kk. The ground floor apartments will have front gardens, while the other apartments will have balconies or loggias, and there will be parking and a community garden available.

So far, very few wooden apartment buildings are being constructed in the Czech Republic, and according to experts, regulations and limited experience hinder the broader expansion of such wooden structures. In the past, it was only possible to build wooden buildings up to a maximum height of 12 meters in the Czech Republic, but since August last year, it has been possible to build apartment buildings out of wood up to a height of 22.5 meters. However, there are also higher buildings abroad; for instance, the Lighthouse, completed six years ago in Joensuu, Finland, has 14 stories. This nearly 50-meter high building contains 117 apartments for students.

In the Czech Republic, apartment buildings are primarily built from bricks, concrete, and blocks. In 2024, only four wooden apartment buildings with 69 apartments were completed in the country, and data for last year is not yet available. In the Liberec Region, wooden buildings constituted 15 percent of the 963 completed apartments two years ago, but these are mostly family homes. Across the whole Czech Republic, 30,274 apartments were completed in 2024, of which only 2,213 were wooden buildings, representing 7.3 percent. The least number of wooden buildings was completed in South Bohemia, with only 19, representing 1.2 percent of the 1,569 completed apartments.