House of Money (today Česká spořitelna)

From the beginning of the 1990s, new banking institutions began to enter the urban area. Initially, their location was often rather temporary, but slowly the ground floors, part town houses, and hotels were gradually adapted to these purposes. 

In 1993, branches of eleven financial institutions operated in Zlín - Komerční banka, Investiční banka, Agrobanka, Banka Bohemia, Pragobanka, Spořitelna, Evrobanka, Obchodní banka, Poštovní banka, Ekoagrobanka, Creditanstalt and Moraviabanka. The effort to build a new bank building began as early as 1992, when an architectural competition was held for the construction of Investiční banka at the intersection of Soudní and Bartošova streets, but none of the proposals were realised. 

 

The largest building in which banking services were located became the so-called Money House on Zarámí Street. Money houses as a specific typology have been built in Czechoslovakia since the 1970s (e.g. in Most, 1973), but were maintained until the 1990s (e.g. in Šumperk, 1994). The one in Zlín was completed in 1993, but its project dates back to 1988. The author is the architect Jiří Jílek (1961), a graduate of the Brno Faculty of Architecture BUT, working in the second half of the eighties at Stavoprojekt. At the time of completion of the House of Money, however, he was already working in his own architectural office, Ateliér 91. Pavel Hanulík is a co-author.

The building at the sharp angle between Zarámí and Vodní Streets was designed as a House of Services for Czechoslovak Production Cooperatives (ČSVD). The main investor was the Fotografia production cooperative (VD Fotografia), which was also responsible for the operation and administration of the building, the costs of which had already risen to 82 million crowns in the preparatory part. A semi-circular congress hall with a capacity of 232 seats was also planned for the building. According to the plans, VD Fotografia would occupy the entire fourth floor.

 

Fourteen other investors contributed to the financing of the new building, among them VD Fryšták, RaJ Zlín, SD Jednota, Sigma Olomouc, VD Integra Zlín, VDI Obzor Zlín, VD Druopta Praha, publishing house Práce, Dílo Praha, and Česká státní spořitelna, who were to have new facilities here. It was the latter that became the main investor after 1990, acquiring the majority of the original 45%. Of the other fourteen organisations, in the end, only the tax office participated in the construction.

 

Construction began in late 1988, and over the next three years, the site remained the largest construction site in the city. The built-up area is approximately 2,800 m², while the total area in the building is 13,900 m². A generous and daring object in its time, it was designed as atypical, with a lift slab construction system with prestressed capitals. The corner building has six above-ground and two underground floors. The irregular floor plan is based on the approximately triangular shape of the plot, which on one edge is immediately adjacent to the high-rise buildings of the Pozemní stavby company, and towards the intersection of Vodní and Zarámí streets, the corner is rounded. The individual floors cascade down to this corner, allowing the employees to use the outdoor terraces. The regular grid of square and rectangular windows is complemented by segmented corner glazing in the chamfered corners. In the direction of Zaramí Street, white tiles are used on the façade, which diagonally transition from Vodní Street to red ceramic tiles; the ground floor is lined with white stone. Windows with brown insulating glass are complemented by decorative metal railings. 

 

On the ground floor, next to the monumentally-designed staircase leading to the main entrance, there is a one-story extension to the main building, topped by a small tower with a metal banner indicating the year of construction. According to the original proposal, VD Druopta Praha was to operate in this associated part, but later a small gallery operated here.

 

In addition to storage and technical rooms, large-capacity garages and safes were also placed in the first and second underground floors. Česká spořitelna and smaller businesses found their headquarters on other floors; the tax office used the fifth floor. The sixth floor served mainly as a restaurant with an outdoor terrace. There were three studios on the top floor. Vertical communications include a system of stairs and five lifts. The rounded corner part of the building contains an atrium lit by a skylight. Custom furniture was made from exclusive materials (stone, stainless steel details, etc.).

 

Not even in the 1990s were all premises used for financial services. Boutiques, a car showroom, smaller shops, restaurants, and the aforementioned gallery also found their facilities here. The owner of the building is Česká spořitelna, which is currently making a number of changes.

 

The original interior and pieces of furniture were replaced. The façade, with already unstable red tiles, is waiting for renovation. The north façade is surrounded by a net that catches the falling tiles. ČS continues to rent out vacant spaces. The appearance of the House of Money reflects a number of postmodern foreign models: for example, the façade is divided by regular light and dark bands of cladding, similar to those used by the Swiss architect Mario Botta; in the original design, knowledge of Hans Hollein's realisations is also manifest. Architecture historian Jana Pavlová in her book Temples of Money introduces the chapter about this house with the title “Botta a la Meier feat. Hollein”.

 

 

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