In H. Králové, the renovation of the Faculty of Education UHK has begun for 415 million CZK

Hradec Králové - In the center of Hradec Králové, a reconstruction of the listed building of the Faculty of Education (PdF) of the University of Hradec Králové (UHK) has begun at a cost of 415 million crowns including VAT. The project includes the renovation of the building's interior, modernization of classrooms, and installation of teaching technology. The work will be carried out by the company Chládek a Tintěra Pardubice. The reconstruction is expected to take two years, representatives of UHK told journalists today during the project launch. The university building being renovated on Svobody Square has had a new façade and insulation since 2015. The other UHK building on the square, which houses the Faculty of Philosophy, has also recently undergone a complete renovation.

"The decision to undertake the reconstruction of the PdF UHK building was driven by the urgent need to preserve its historical and architectural value and to modernize its infrastructure to meet contemporary academic standards. The building showed signs of aging and its facilities needed upgrades to ensure education at a European level," said Kamil Kuča, rector of UHK, to ČTK today.

According to him, the university would not have been able to handle the reconstruction without state, regional, and municipal assistance. A significant part of the funding was covered by a grant from the Ministry of Education amounting to 271 million crowns. The contribution from the Hradec Králové Region is 45 million, and from the city of Hradec Králové, it is 15 million crowns. UHK's share is 84 million crowns. The actual work started on August 9 with the handover of the building to the construction company.

"Demolition and excavation work has already begun in the basement of the building, as well as archaeological research. Given the location of the PdF UHK, it could be expected that remnants of the adjacent Baroque fortress might be found, and that is indeed what has happened. Inside the building, work is being done to carefully preserve the organ and install a dust barrier," said UHK spokesman Jakub Novák.

According to Hradec Králové archaeologist Radek Bláha, this is one of the most extensively uncovered and preserved parts of the Hradec fortress and the most extensive on the right bank of the Elbe. "In the basement of the building, we found the foundations of a part of the Hradec fortress, specifically a bastion called Luneta, which was meant to protect the defenders of the fortress at the so-called covered gathering area. We managed to expose one side of the bastion, namely the walls that delineated the moat. The walls are quite massive, one is over a meter wide and the other two meters," said Bláha. He stated that these structures are related to the second phase of fortress construction, known as the encasement of the ramparts, dating back to the 1780s.

Archaeologists encountered remnants of fortifications immediately beneath the floor of the basement rooms. "The walls are made of a combination of bricks and stone. They are actually the foundations, originally invisible parts of the fortifications," Bláha told ČTK.

Archaeologists found traces of earlier settlements in the fill around the masonry from the now-vanished medieval suburbs of Hradec Králové, which were demolished precisely because of the construction of the Baroque fortress. "The terrain has not been significantly disturbed, so in the fill we find remnants of older settlements dated from the 13th to the 18th century," said Bláha to ČTK.

According to him, the find can be compared in significance to the recent uncovering of remnants of the fortress, referred to as the Cavalier and Bastion, in the nearby Gayer Barracks. According to Radek Šilhán, head of UHK's investment department, it is not expected that the uncovered walls will be visible after the reconstruction, as is the case with part of the discovered fortifications in the Gayer Barracks, where a museum is located. "The find in the university building will likely be covered with geotextiles and backfilled, preserved for future generations," Šilhán told ČTK.

The PdF building was completed in 1897 and became one of the first Czech Art Nouveau buildings. Originally, it was a three-wing building with an open courtyard; in 1923, a fourth wing was added, enclosing the building. The structure has one underground floor and three above-ground floors plus an attic. Originally, the spaces served as a business academy. The building also represents the cornerstone of the Hradec UHK. The Hradec Faculty of Education, the oldest part of the University of Hradec Králové, was established in 1964 by merging the pedagogical institutes in Hradec Králové and Pardubice. In 1992, the Pedagogical College was founded, and since 2000, the school has operated under the name Faculty of Education of the University of Hradec Králové.

In recent years, UHK has invested tens of millions of crowns in its development. For example, last year it completed the renovation of the adjacent building of the Faculty of Philosophy on Svobody Square for 216 million crowns.