The transformer station at Klárov, from which a hotel is to be built, is a cultural monument

Prague - The Ministry of Culture has declared the neoclassical building of the transformer station and electrical converter in Prague at Klárov from the 1930s a cultural monument. The owner of the building plans to convert it into a hotel with six floors and 200 rooms. An appeal against the declaration of the building as a monument has been filed, and the case will be handled by the ministry’s appeals commission, said the ministry spokesperson Simona Cigánková to ČTK.
    The owner is to supplement the materials for the appeals commission's proceedings by June 3, after which experts will begin to address them. It is therefore not yet clear when a final decision might be made. However, the property is currently protected as if it were declared a monument, so it cannot be demolished or altered without the permission of heritage conservationists.
    The transformer station and electrical converter located opposite the Old Castle Steps was designed by architect Vilém Kvasnička. It includes, besides the technological facilities, offices and two apartments. The converter serves tram transportation from Malá Strana through Hradčany to Letná. It should remain in the building in the future, relocating to the basement.
    "Although it is a building of technical purpose, architecturally and urbanistically it is an extraordinarily high-quality work," states the Ministry of Culture in its justification and emphasizes that the author had to cope with the challenging rocky terrain with a triangular plot, the proximity of Prague Castle with the historical context of the Malostranská development, and with the time of its creation. Therefore, he chose neoclassicism as the main source of inspiration.
    According to the evaluation, the quality of the architecture is also influenced by the design of the roofs with traditional Malostranská tile covering, which are visually very exposed from Chotkovy sady, Kramář Villa, and the Castle.
    The head of the city’s heritage protection Jiří Skalický identified as a drawback of the transformer station the disturbance of the construction, the static disturbance of both vertical pillars supporting the two bay windows on the northeastern facade on U Bruských kasáren street, and contamination with mercury and oil products.
    The investor of the proposed hotel and owner of the building is the company Property Klárov, owned by former co-owner of Czech Coal Petr Pudil through his family foundation.