Complex of buildings for the employees of the Pension Fund for the Workers of the Joint Stock Company, formerly the Škoda Works in Pilsen
1922 / 1939–1940

náměstí Míru 1609/14, Politických vězňů 1609, 1610, 2270 / 2, 4, 6 (Plzeň) Plzeň Jižní Předměstí
Public transport: Náměstí Míru (TRAM 4)
Poliklinika Bory (BUS 29)
GPS: 49.7296460, 13.3713269

As one of many four-storey apartment house complexes the Škoda Works (then called the Joint Stock Company, formerly the Škoda Works in Pilsen) built for its employees in the interwar period, this complex of buildings near the corner of Politických Vězňů Street and Náměstí Míru (Peace Square) was realised in two stages, first in 1922 and then between 1939 and 1940. Construction in the 1920s was carried out by the well-known building company Müller & Kapsa (probably according to their own design, or according to the project of the Construction Department of the Joint Stock Company), while work in the late 1930s was done by builders Mandaus, Švajcr a spol.

By taking advantage of the benefits laid down in the Law on the Construction Industry of 1922, the pair of houses no. 2 and 4 were the first to be realised. These houses faced Politických Vězňů Street with a modest Classicist façade, which was decorated with a shallow sculptural articulation with geometric frameworks and pilasters. A distinctive element connecting the facades of both buildings was a continuous ledge separating the levels of the third and fourth floors. The corner of house no. 2 was fitted with a Social-Civilist relief situated toward Náměstí Míru, as the construction committee called for a "more adequate resolution of the façade facing the square, as regards the portion closer to the corner, as there are no windows designed there." The houses comprised either one-room flats or one-bedroom apartments with living rooms facing the street. However, the housing units were not equipped with complete sanitary facilities, only toilets. Therefore, an overall refurbishment took place in the late 1960s as bathrooms were added to the sanitary facilities of the individual flats.

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the building complex was completed with the construction of corner apartment house no. 6 with small flats containing one room. Its modest Neoclassical façade carried on in the style and proportions of the adjacent buildings, which were constructed in the first half of the 1920s. Much to its favour, it deliberately "renounced" the claims to a modern Functionalist approach, a similar example of which can be seen in another set of Škoda apartment houses between Raisova, Dvořákova, and Politických Vězňů Streets (C6–2273).

The house was recently renovated and some wooden windows were replaced with plastic ones.


Investor

Pension Fund for the Workers of the Joint Stock Company, formerly the Škoda Works in Pilsen

Sources

  • Archiv Odboru stavebně správního, Technický úřad Magistrátu města Plzně