Reconstruction

One of the main construction investment events of the National Museum included in the program funding by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic is the revitalization of the Náprstek Museum. An integral part of the project is the construction of a new depository for the storage of the Náprstek Museum’s collections on the premises of the central depository in Prague – Horní Počernice. This depository will also include specialist workplaces and specialised restoration workshops. The project documentation for the selection of the contractor was completed in 2023. This project documentation was subjected to detailed review, in particular with regard to Decree No. 230/2012, on the details of the definition of the subject of performance in direct relation to the lists of works and supplies. At the same time, an application for subsidy for the implementation was submitted and the complete tender documentation for this construction and investment project was prepared. In 2024, a public tender was launched to select a contractor and start construction of the central depository.

In this year, we obtained a final building permit from the local building authority.

As part of the overall revitalisation, after the completion of the central depository in Horní Počernice and the relocation of the administration, specialist departments and collection objects to this depository, an extensive reconstruction of all the historical buildings of the Náprstek Museum on Betlémské náměstí in Prague 1 will be carried out. The aim is to create a larger space for exhibitions with the intention of opening up spaces that have been inaccessible to the public. During 2023, partial details of the construction and operational character were finalized, which will subsequently be incorporated into the documentation of the projected reconstruction with the aim of reviving the complex of historical buildings with added value in the form of new, multi-purpose spaces.

In 2023, after obtaining the decision on the location of the building, we announced a public tender for the preparation of project documentation for the building permit for the planned extension of the existing building of the Czech Museum of Music in Litoměřice.
 A contract for the work was signed with the winner of this public tender. The next and final stage of the design work will be the preparation of project documentation for the selection of the contractor.

As part of the planning for the renovation and development of the National Museum’s buildings, the first partial preliminary design work required for the design of the general reconstruction of the National Museum’s New Building, the former Federal Assembly Building, has been completed. The geodetic survey of the buildings with the creation of a digital building model (BIM/DMS) was completed and handed over. This documentation will be the basis for the actual design work of the general renovation.

The first stage of the restoration of the stone sculptures in the garden of the Antonín Dvořák Museum in Prague 2 has been completed, two of which (Summer and Autumn, Winter and Spring) are most likely from the workshop of M. B. Braun, according to historical sources. The restoration work in the second stage is scheduled for completion in 2024.

At the end of 2023, work was completed on the tender documentation for the complete reconstruction of the turret of the Czech Museum of Music in Karmelitská Street in Prague 1, which has structural and technical defects, especially in the metal structure and glazing of the turret itself. A contractor will be selected in the following year. The repair is planned for 2024/2025. The current condition is structurally and technically stable.

The 16 deposited period wooden cabinets, which were part of the furnishings of the Historical Building before its renovation, return to the renovated museum building, where they will find their use in the National Museum Library. Their professional restoration was started in mid-2023.

As part of the restoration of the National Museum’s historic buildings, preparation of a construction and investment project for the Bedřich Smetana Memorial in Jabkenice has begun, which consists of drawing up project documentation for the restoration of the façade cladding and remediation work to remove moisture from the building itself. It will also include the repair of the waterproofing, external and internal plastering of the technical areas located outside the monument. At the same time, a part of the enclosure wall will be repaired, the colour of which will be unified with the restored façade of the building.

For the restoration of the façades of another historical building of the National Museum, namely the Vrchotovy Janovice Chateau, the tender documentation for the selection of a contractor for the restoration survey and plan was prepared. The most recent renovation of the external and courtyard façades was 17 years ago, and today it is showing considerable wear and tear due to weather conditions.

As part of the last stage of the restoration of the stone balustrade of the Viceroy’s Summer Palace in Prague’s Stromovka, the last 11 of 33 pieces of newly manufactured stone pinnacles made of Božanov sandstone, whose properties are better able to withstand weathering, were added. The stone pinnacles completely replaced the non-original, crumbling concrete pieces from the 1980s.