In Prague, a neo-Classicist converter station from the 1930s has been converted into a museum of art by architects Schindler Seko. The building was once filled with technological equipment for transforming electricity into the direct current used to power the trams of Prague. Modernization of converter station technology, however, means that now only a tiny part of the building’s underground is needed for this working, leaving nearly the entirety of the building open for its new art museum use.
The conversion aims to preserve the original external shape of the building and its façade to the maximum possible extent. In addition, inappropriate interventions from recent years were removed, bringing characteristic elements of the building back to the foreground.
The now-named Kunsthalle is accessed via a footbridge with Prague mosaic paving. The bridge serves a double purpose and conceals the air-treatment technology exhaust pipe needed by the transport company, which was previously highly exposed on the Western façade. A one-story extension with a surface of sanded terrazzo was added to the central portion of the building. So as not to compete with the architecture of the Kunsthalle, this extension is simple in its expression with proportions derived from the dimensions of the façade.
Key elements of the original design were retained. These elements include roofing, gutters, ledges, facades, foundation walls, and decorative components. Colours are overall low-key, and the façade retains its original grey-beige tone, derived from the sandstone facing.
The building retains all the fundamental elements in the original design – roofing, gutters, ledges, facades, foundation walls, and certain modest elements of decoration. The material and colours of the design are very sober, in particular with the facades being returned to their original grey-beige, which comes from the sandstone facing.
Works on the building were not without challenges. The main problem was the use of concrete made of aluminous cement, which after 80 years, had to be removed as it lacked critical strength. There were also issues with contamination by oils and mercury. Most of the original filling structures of the facade were professionally dismantled and removed before construction work began and returned during conversion.
Inside, the building features several different types of spaces for various uses. The northern and eastern parts of the building retain more or less their original layout. However, in the central and southern areas, spaces are logically arranged at different heights in response to window openings in the façade.
The southern portion of the building houses two overground floors and attic space. The overground floors are dedicated to hosting exhibitions, while the attic is used as office space for the Kunsthalle Foundation. The central part has two overground floors and an inset mezzanine, which forms the entrance area and reveals the largesse of the whole building. The other floors are home to exhibition space.
The Kunsthalle also features an Art shop, a restaurant, a café, and space for the safe storage of artworks that are not open to the public.
