Experts from VŠB-TUO will also help bring back the past glory of Breda in Opava

The Breda department store in Opava, which in its time was the largest in Czechoslovakia, is looking forward to better times. Representatives of VŠB-TUO are also involved in the process of its revival. The workers of the Research Energy Center, one of the components of the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, are devising a way to heat, ventilate, or cool the restored object. The Faculty of Civil Engineering will also participate in the cooperation.

The city, in cooperation with local enthusiasts, set out to save the department store, which was built between 1927 and 1928 by the Breda & Weinstein company according to a project by the Viennese architect Leopold Bauer. In 2021, a group of people led by the artist Kurt Gebauer founded the Society for the Rescue of the Breda Department Store. It was with him that the Opava municipality signed a memorandum of cooperation, and some repairs are already underway. VEC employees will also contribute a little to the mill.
"We are working on a feasibility study for various solutions for the heat source and at the same time the technical design of the air conditioning system. Simply put, we deal with building heating, cooling and ventilation. The study should be finished in September," said Lukáš Bukovský from the VEC project department. The Faculty of Civil Engineering VŠB-TUO brought them to the collaboration, which somewhat deviates from the tasks of this scientific center. She processes the 3D model and other documents for Breda.
"We usually carry out studies, but also projects for industrial premises, various new buildings, resource parts of various operations. In this case, it is a historical building, partly protected as a monument, which brings a number of restrictions. Our main task is to invent a source of heat. Currently, there is a gas boiler in the building, but we will examine all options, including heat pumps, which are, for example, in the nearby shopping center Nová Breda. At the same time, however, the department store will need to be ventilated. But in order to determine the optimal air-conditioning solution, we need more accurate data about what establishments will be in the building, which is what determines the estimate of the number of visitors," added Bukovský.

Together with his colleagues, he will have to verify the current state of the building, find spaces for the location of machine rooms with technologies, design the sizes of air conditioning sources and devise a method of air distribution in the building. "In short, we have to check whether the technologies we have designed will fit into the building and we will be able to distribute heat and air to the final consumers. These are hours of calculations, proposals and drawing layout drawings," he explained the progress of the work, in which three to four employees of the research center will be involved in various stages.
Even for a building with a long history, experts think about reducing its energy demand. "Where possible, fellow builders will reduce heat loss by insulating, replacing windows and the like. Heat recovery also occurs in modern technologies of air conditioning or heat pumps," he explained.
He confirmed that, even in view of the historical value of the building, he approaches the work with great respect. "The building has a long history, it is not a modern department store grown on a green field. One is aware of this, perceives the atmosphere and the story of the object. That certainly appealed to me, and from this point of view, the contract is very interesting," concluded Bukovský.
The department store was acquired in privatization by Kamil Kolek, but he closed it in 2013 due to a fault in the electrical installation. After the collapse of his company, Breda was taken over by a bankruptcy administrator and tried to sell it for several years. Unsuccessfully. Since this year, the building has been owned by the city of Opava, construction work has started. As the mayor of Opava, Tomáš Navrátil, told the Karvinský a havířovský daily in July, the roof is being repaired, with the money collected by the association. Furthermore, all wooden elements are being dismantled, the whole dome will be dismantled and the windows will be repaired.

Text: Martina Šaradínová

Photo: City of Opava