The reconstruction of the OD Máj in Prague will be completed next year, costing four billion CZK

Prague - The reconstruction of the Máj department store in Prague will be completed in the first half of next year and will cost four billion crowns. The appearance of the department store, which is a cultural monument, will be preserved in accordance with the agreement with heritage protectors. The reconstruction is being carried out by the construction company Metrostav, and demolition work has already been completed. The new department store will offer not only shops but also a gallery and a restaurant with a view. Václav Klán, who manages Amádeus Real Estate, the developer, said this today to ČTK.

"We would like to open Máj to the public in its modernized form in the first half of 2024. The total costs upon completion of the full reconstruction will reach four billion crowns," Klán told ČTK today. According to the chief architect of the project, Milan Mlada, the company wants to offer culture and entertainment to people as well. The new Máj department store, which will have nine public floors after modernization, will provide, in addition to shops, an expanded gastro zone, a gallery, a children's corner, and a restaurant with a view.

The final concept of the reconstruction fully preserves the original appearance of the cultural monument, including the replication of facades or their coloration. "Even after the reconstruction, the building will appear to be the original building, it will just have a fully functional new cladding, apart from the facades, which are prominent," Mlada told ČTK. He added that the progress of the reconstruction is proceeding better than expected and almost without complications.

The company stated that it cooperated with the original authors, architects Martin Rajniš and John Eisler, on the design of the renovation of Máj. According to the developer, the project took into account the inputs of other experts in heritage care and urbanism.

The department store at the corner of Spálená and Národní was built on the site of the neo-Gothic Šlik Palace according to the design of Miroslav Masák, John Eisler, and Martin Rajniš from the Liberec studio SIAL, which was founded in 1968 by Karel Hubáček, the author of the Ještěd transmitter. Máj opened its doors to customers on April 21, 1975. In 2006, the Ministry of Culture declared the building a cultural monument.