Slezská university in Opava
Client: Slezská univerzita v Opavě
Location: Rektorát Slezské univerzity v Opavě, Na Rybníčku 626/1 2657/12
Year of completition: 2020
The project addressed the problem of insufficient infrastructure facilities at the Silesian University in Opava (SU) that would support quality of education standard, enhance openness, strengthen international cooperation and increase interest in studying at the university.
The aim of the project was to create a high-quality facilities at the Silesian University by improving the quality of interior, audiovisual and other equipment. The project supports the development of international cooperation and strengthens the attractiveness of studying at Silesian University. Thanks to the project, the perception of SU significantly increased as a modern and progressive family-type university providing internationally competitive education.
The scope of our project was the design and production of atypical furnishing elements and their incorporation into the existing premises of the Rector’s Office without the need for major construction interventions in the building.
The building of the Rectorate is located in the centre of Opava, on the corner of Na rybníčku and Olbrichovi streets, with the main facade facing the Republic Square.
The building has 5 floors above ground, including the original attic (5NP), and 1 underground floor. The interior modifications included selected communal parts of the building, corridor and entrance foyer areas (1NP-3NP), as well as a large enclosed training room on 3NP and a universal classroom on 1PP. The project also included technological upgrades to the representative auditorium.
The opulent classical building was originally built as a military headquarters with a ballroom hall in the first quarter of the last century and has been used by the university since 2003.
The material and form of the interior design sensitively relates to the representative character of the historic building and supports its neoclassical appearance. To the rich stucco interior decoration of the walls and ceilings, we inserted a lightweight type of furnishings made of a fine ash wood structure with rattan. Due to the dimensionally smaller spaces, this type of furnishing creates sufficient privacy for all users in busy communication nodes and yet does not overfill the space with its presence. It seemed appropriate to us to use this historical technology of furniture production as a fusion of two worlds, the world of modern technology with the heritage environment of the building. As part of the refurbishment, we replaced the modern ceramic tiles of 40x40cm format with a more historical looking surface made of cast terrazzo. The surfaces of the walls and ceilings were matched in colour with the pinkish hue of the cast terrazzo and the bleached tonality of the atypically designed wooden furnishings. The new lighting of all spaces was also an important point.
