The city councillors approved the Justification of tendering for the design documentation supplier for the new concert hall, which enabled Brněnské komunikace to proclaim the open competition, starting with a qualification round for the building designer.
They will propose the layout of the building’s interior including cloakrooms, administration offices, rehearsal rooms or common rooms and most importantly the concert hall itself, its shape, size, seating lay-out, acoustic insulation, facing materials and so on.
“A lot of talk has been done about a new concert hall for decades. I am glad that this unique idea is being converted into reality. Beside the ongoing works, the selection of the designer is another important step to accomplishing the dream of many Brno citizens,” said Mayor Petr Vokřál.
The documentation should be supplied by a team of professionals and chartered persons authorised according to the Czech authorisation rules. It will consist of planners and architects and, above all, acoustic specialists. The teams will most probably be international.
“It has been one hundred years since a concert hall with the capacity of more than a thousand people was built in the Czech Republic. It was the Smetana Hall in the Municipal House in Prague. This is one of the reasons for the qualification criteria being so strict. Not many people have enough experience with such a large-scale project. Therefore we want to be one hundred percent certain that the hall will be designed by proved professionals whose work speaks for them. Their experience with similar projects is the key competence. And we also want to be able to visit the halls designed by them to see how well they work,” said the Deputy Mayor Matěj Hollan. “We want our hall to achieve a quality of international standards and become the pride of the whole country, not only Brno and South Moravia. This project crosses the region´s borders.”
However, the previous experience with a concert hall construction is not the only criterion required when applying for the qualifying round. The participants must prove their experience with construction of bigger buildings and buildings in urban monuments conservation areas. The qualification conditions also do not allow a fictitious person to be the key person of the team.
“We have set it up in a way that this person must keep in touch with the investor regularly and be well informed about the project development,” said Hollan.
Applications may be submitted until 27th June 2016.
“We are anxiously awaiting the final number of interested applicants with respect to understandably strict requirements. However, I can reveal that foreign experts both from European and non-European countries seem to be interested in the project,” said Marie Kučerová, the Director of Brno Philharmonic. A committee of experts will decide who qualifies for the next round.
“We are still discussing the committee’s setup. Aside from architecture and urbanism experts we would like to see specialists on music or tourism in the committee. We would like to invite the new City Architect Michal Sedláček to the decision process,” Kučerová said.
A competition round deciding the project price will follow the qualifying round. Subsequent planning works complying with the Zoning Decision from 2013 will last about a year. Meanwhile a memorandum is being finalized, which divides the participation on project funding among the Municipality, regional government and the state. Once the cooperation between Brno Municipality and South Moravian Regional Government is settled, the document will be committed to the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Finance. The goal is that the allowance from the state is to be included in the Draft Budget for 2017.
“If we manage it, we will be able to follow up on the finalized construction of underground garages with construction of the above-ground part, which is the concert hall,” said Hollan.
Construction workers have been finishing off the rider bracing preventing any soil slides and in a few days they will start to dig a land cofferdam for a three-storey underground garages with the capacity for 191 cars.
About Hall for Brno
The working title Hall for Brno (Janáček Cultural Centre) denotes the project of new Brno concert hall construction. It will provide a home to the Brno Philharmonic, recognized as one of the
Europe’s outstanding orchestra. Its more than one hundred members have had to rehearse and perform in unsatisfactory conditions. The Philharmonic is currently based in Besedni dům, the stage of which is too small. And the Janáček Theatre, the venue of many Philharmonic’s concerts, does not provide suitable acoustics. As a result, audience can not hear the orchestra in its full cast.
“Hopefully, the audience will be able to recognize the quality of the orchestra thanks to the new concert hall and Brno will attract top artists from abroad, we have currently no place to invite to,” said Marie Kučerová, the Director of Brno Philharmonic.
The new concert hall offering 1250 seats and top-quality acoustic parameters will stand on the corner of Besedni and Veselá street. The total cost is estimated at 1,276 billion CZK. The municipal authorities endeavour to have the construction begun at the end of year 2017, therewith following up the first phase of the project, the rise of underground garages.
Media contact
Kateřina Konečná – JCC PR manager, 777 682 678, info@salprobrno.cz, www.salprobrno.cz