Tenement Houses

In 1955, the Research Institute of Rubber and Plastics Technology in Zlín submitted an application for the construction of two tenement houses on Stalinova Street (today třída Tomáše Bati), only a few minutes away from the historic centre of the city.

Especially during the 1930s, modern apartment buildings with a commercial ground floor were built on the main street. The architects were, amongst others, Miroslav Lorenc, Viktor Jandásek, and Eduard O. Černocký from Brno. These interwar buildings, only a few dozens of metres apart, were supplemented in 1957 by buildings realised in accordance with the officially promoted tenet of socialist realism. The construction was carried out by the national enterprise Stavosvit (future Stavoprojekt), with the project documentation bearing the stamp of the architect František Bartoš.

The façade layout is similar for both houses. A plinth made of artificial sandstone is interrupted in the centre by the entrance to the house, complete with an entrance sign with a stone figural relief. We would also find such signs on other buildings from the late 1940s and 1950s, for example on three-storey houses in Obeciny, but also on panel houses in Sokolská Street. Above the plinth the façade is treated with smooth, light coloured stucco plaster. The symmetrical composition of the facade is topped with an attic with a decorative cornice in the central part of the house, which should have been topped with six balustrade cones. The parts between windows consist of prefabricated columns or reliefs with a simple floral motif.

An interesting detail is the prefabricated concrete balcony railings that appear on the façade to the inner block. Perforated concrete prefabs are known in Zlín from the construction of the post-war two-year plan buildings, when Miroslav Drofa used them on the Morýs and tower houses, and we can also find them on the collective house by Jiří Voženílek. The use of this element on a house that is otherwise conceived in the style of restrained socialist realism demonstrates the designers' effort to connect architectural details with the local context and, if possible, curb the decorative tuning of typical buildings.

Two four-storey houses No. 3889 and 3890 are an atypical variant of T14 residential houses, developed by the Study and Typification Institute (Studijní a typizační ústav). Compared to this variant, which combines two- and one-room apartments with amenities, the Gottwaldov housing units are extended by one room. According to the investor, the status of employees of research institutes was that of intellectual workers, which afforded them an extra room. Because of this, the costs increased, but at the same time the usable area exceeded the standards set at the time. There are 12 apartments in building No. 3890, of which eight are 3+1 and four are 1+1. In house No. 3889, which filled the shorter plot, there are 8 apartments, of which four are 3+1 and four are 1+1. The individual floors are connected by a monolithic U-shaped staircase; in the basement there was a drying room and a laundry room, a shelter, a boiler room, and cellars for tenants.

The pair of houses is in good condition. The windows and some details have been replaced, but overall the original form has been preserved, including balcony prefabs and decorative elements.