Don’t be late for school! An architectural competition has determined the shape of the next part of Nová Zbrojovka

From the project’s very beginning it was clear that children would one day sit on school benches in Nová Zbrojovka. It’s now also clear what their benches will look like. In mid-November, the appearance of the elementary school and kindergarten was finalised by the results of an architectural-urban competition. We commissioned this together with the City of Brno at the beginning of the year. The expert jury, on which were represented the Brno-Židenice district and the Office of the Architect of the City of Brno were represented alongside ourselves and the City of Brno, unanimously selected the design tendered by the architectural studio SOA architekti. The result was sanctioned by the Brno City Council on Wednesday, 30 November.

While the kindergarten will be a two-class school, the elementary school will offer capacity for up to 810 pupils in 27 classes. The proposed design not only deals with the school buildings, but also adjacent areas, including the sports complex. Moreover, the form of this important aspect of public and civic amenities is clear before we even applied for building permits for the first apartments. The winners were selected by a jury from a total of 7 designs. The winning design was especially appreciated for its the diversity of public space and flexible layout. Individual parts of the space will be variably usable both for teaching and for the young residents to enjoy community time. The design is also elaborated in detail in terms of operation, energy and landscape.
”We’re pleased that the form of the school and nursery has come via an architectural-urban competition. There have already been 6 of them relating to Nová Zbrojovka, and they’re gradually giving shape to the whole area. Such contests guarantee architectural diversity and high-quality architecture, which are one of the pillars for the entire construction of Nová Zbrojovka,” says Jan Růžička, Project Manager of Nová Zbrojovka.

“We believe that the City of Brno will follow up the winning design with a negotiated procedure without publication to commission the project preparation. We’re ready for the next steps for Nová Zbrojovka. Other factors, such as the construction of backbone transport and technical infrastructure or flood control measures, are also important for the implementation of this project. However, we’re already contractually agreed with the city and are developing them together in parallel to this project. We’re glad that cooperation with the city is working,” adds Miroslav Pekník, Nová Zbrojovka Development Director. Which reminds us that Nová Zbrojovka has a long-term Cooperation Agreement with the city, which we signed in 2021. This defines the development of the entire territory and investments for the next 10 years. Its subject-matter covers 13 main points, on the basis of which a series of further, partial cooperation agreements are being created.
All competition designs, including their physical models, will be available for viewing at the exhibition in the Nová Zbrojovka area at the beginning of the new year. The expert jury awarded 3 designs:

1st place SOA architekti, s.r.o.

2nd place Anagram&Gruppa L.L.C.

3rd place Marek Chalupa architekti s.r.o.