34 PROJECT REPORT: TRANSPORT FACILITIES & PUBLIC REALM
complicated the derusting was,” and developed their own equipment for the task. A 1980s statue by a local sculptor has been liberated by the removal of the retail cubicles, and now stands unencumbered on the plaza.
Chybik admits there are “two camps” when it comes to public reaction to the project. “One was complaining that we ‘spent 100 million on painting it,’” adding this was 70% of the comments on social media. However while the younger generation of Brno residents are keener than their older counterparts, there are also “plenty of happy customers, understanding that the city’s biggest shame just disappeared.”
The project demonstrates how an architectural studio’s role can be more usefully about catalysing, and even driving forward, a difficult project to benefit a dilapidated urban area
creating views in and out. The slim roof suggests “the platforms’ decking being detached from the floor like a conveyor belt,” say the architects.
However both the wave-like form and its colour strongly contrast against the rectilinear, white expanse above, and help give the new addition some prominence in this large space. With the ‘temporary’ cubicles having been removed, light is no longer impeded at the corners of the front elevation, and corners have been dispensed with on the new building to obviate any more chances of any of the bus platforms feeling closed-in once more. Chybik explains further: “It’s very transparent, from the city you can see through the building, and when leaving the station, you see the new shopping mall, plus a brick-built former factory which is now a gallery.” On one side of the public plaza created in front of the bus station is a new tram stop, and this can now be entered on the same level as the terminal, as part of the project’s focus on maximising accessibility. “This part of Brno is transforming,” says Chybik, a southern chunk of the city centre is a “big brownfield” which the municipality is redeveloping into a transport hub, including a new rail station sitting adjacent to the bus terminal. The architects believe that the building’s brutalism, and the “rational clarity of functionalist architecture,” has been enhanced by the addition of “new forms and resources.” Chybik says the aim is to “contrast with the brutalism, not to compete with it.” As part of the “facelift,” the building’s concrete cladding has been cleaned, and copious scrubbing has removed rust on the steel structure. The subcontractor enlisted for this role was “surprised by how
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Driving social change The project demonstrates how an architectural studio’s role can be more usefully about catalysing, and even driving forward, a difficult project to benefit a dilapidated urban area – as opposed to creating a new building for its own sake. As well as a strong sustainability driver for refurbishing the 1980s-built station, the architects’ goal in tirelessly promoting this refurbishment as a viable scheme was not just to renew a heritage building, but also to reinvent the area surrounding it, and make the terminal something the citizens could be proud of.
The studio co-founder tells ADF that he believes this project is a “great example of how architects globally can open their eyes, and show care.” This chimes with the practice’s belief that architects’ role is “intrinsically social.” He also thinks it points toward a future of fewer ‘starchitects’ and architectural ego, and more reuse, based around a “local agenda.” This project fits exactly the practice’s stated goal to “demonstrate commitment to driving social change.”
While not including major design interventions, in revitalising and opening up this structure it represents a major example of how this city is rejecting certain aspects of its past, but preserving some of the positives. Says Chybik: “An important part of the story was letting Brno be an open, transparent city.” Chybik adds: “I know that as architects we have the power to change. We have a voice and we can advocate for it, and I’m very happy that we succeeded in this case.” He concludes: “It’s not always about the greatest shape of a window, but about the client starting to make a change, to open their eyes, and listen to us.”
ADF OCTOBER 2021
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