Anyone walking through Olomouc immediately senses the special atmosphere between the historic old town, the Red Church and the research library. It was here that a new building was constructed in 2023, impressively connecting the two buildings. Atelier-r, s.r.o complemented the ensemble with a structure that respects the historic surroundings while introducing a contemporary form. Architect Miroslav Pospíšil describes the design as a work between the past and the present, in which the church was to retain its external appearance and the new building was to have a calm, independent expression.
Architecture between past and present
The task was to connect different eras and reorganise the ensemble. As the church is a listed building, its appearance remained unchanged, which required precise coordination between old and new. Dark-tinted glass surfaces contrast with the matt PREFABOND aluminium composite panels of the new building. On the garden side, a terrace with a small cafe creates a sheltered spot between the turn-of-the-century houses and the red church walls.
Rooms that hold stories
The main entrance leads into a hall of height with a ceiling designed as an inverted and irregular ribbed vault. Exposed concrete walls rise upwards, while a floor-to-ceiling bookcase made of black steel adds depth to the room. Thanks to the transparency of the glass facades, the interior appears light and open despite the rather closed black glass and aluminium facade. The floor, made of polished, red-coloured concrete, echoes the colour of the old church walls. No matter where you move within the building, there is always a material or detail that reinterprets the original parameters of the Red Church.
The angles of the new building correspond precisely to the polygonal foundations of the church, and the internal-sloping roof refers to the differently sloping surfaces of the existing building. Like the facade, the roof covering made of PREFABOND aluminium composite panels was carefully planned and executed. PREFABOND aluminium composite panels on the roof are a special solution that requires a watertight roof covering underneath, in this project a foil roof. The uniform appearance gives the building a monolithic effect, clearly positioning it between the neo-Gothic church and the classicist library. The church itself has been renovated in line with conservation guidelines and now features red brick, high-quality wood and a large central room with a ribbed vault, as well as side aisles with star vaults, which can accommodate events for up to 250 guests.
Material and construction in synergy
The new building was constructed by Petr Duda and his company OHL ZS+STRABAG, which has been in existence since 1990. The biggest challenge was to combine the tolerances of the load-bearing steel structure, which are in the centimetre range, with the shell made of glass and PREFABOND aluminium composite panels, which were manufactured with millimetre precision. In total, the five-person team installed around 750 square metres of composite panels, which are trapezoidal in shape and were partially bent and glued. The workmanship is precise and, according to Duda, is effectively supported by the PREFA colours.
For Petr Duda, this project shows how much construction, material and architecture depend on each other. He describes the building as a work in which every detail had to be just right so that the steel structure and the precisely manufactured PREFABOND panels could be combined to form a harmonious shell. For him, the building is an example of how much trust is needed to combine complex materials and ultimately achieve a result that will last.
