“As part of the renovation of Kounice House, the builders have already completed more than a year and a half of work, basically turning the ruin into a building where we can already imagine what it will look like when it’s finished. Everything is already shaping up nicely, and that’s why we would like to take the public on a tour so that people can compare how much Kounice House has changed, even though the work is far from finished. The open day will take place on Wednesday, 29 April. Details about how it will run will be published in due course, but I warmly invite everyone to see Kounice House now,” said Mayor of Česká Lípa Jitka Volfová.
“It's always a pleasure to see a building transform into an increasingly clean and liveable space. However, you must continue to take the latter with a pinch of salt due to the frost. We are still working on the heating system, so we heat inside with external convector heaters, not only to avoid getting cold, but also for technological reasons. The investor is currently at a crucial moment. We are preparing a sample room with cement floor tiles for it, and at the same time we are selecting doors, gates and other interior elements together. As far as the exteriors are concerned, we can only look forward to the spring, when we will be able to continue with the landscaping of the courtyards, the catering building and the exterior plastering,” revealed Aleš Kunca, project manager for Metrostav CZ.
“This is a challenging building because, in addition to its size – the built-up area of the building is more than 1,100 square metres – it is also cultural heritage. However, the construction work is not delayed too much at the moment, and the completion date of early 2027 should be met. I’m happy that during the inspection days we are slowly moving from purely construction issues to furniture, floor tiles and other interior elements. With the contractor, who is in charge of the interior furnishings in addition to the construction work, we are fine-tuning how the building will actually look after completion, and of course we want it to be as attractive as possible for the Libertin staff and all the children that will come here for courses,” said Česká Lípa Deputy Mayor Martin Brož, adding that the current price of the work is CZK 287.3 million including VAT.
The renovation of Kounice House is being carried out under the watchful eye of conservationists. The aim is to preserve and restore the building’s historical values. These are mainly the shape of the roof and chimneys, the height of the ridges, the form of the historical façade and replicas of the missing doors and windows, produced based on preserved historical models or photographic documentation. A subsidy from the Modernisation Fund (State Environmental Fund of the Czech Republic) in the maximum amount of CZK 19.6 million will help the town of Česká Lípa to finance the demanding project. The renovated building will house the Libertin Children and Youth Centre.
The grant will be used by Česká Lípa for measures that help reduce the building’s energy consumption (by about 30%), such as the installation of new windows, thermal insulation of floors and roofs, as well as air-conditioning equipment with heat recovery from the ventilated air, energy-saving LED lighting and central heating distribution systems with heat pumps.
The renovation of Kounice House began in August 2024 and should be completed in early 2027. It is being carried out for Česká Lípa by an association of the companies CL-EVANS, Metrostav CZ and BAK stavební společnost. The original budget was almost CZK 212 million, but due to the complexity of the construction work and various unforeseen changes, the project documentation had to be modified several times and the scope of work increased.
Česká Lípa has been successfully repairing historical buildings in recent years. It recently completed the renovation of the Jirásek Theatre, which dates from the 1930s. The construction was also carried out by a company from the Metrostav group and the investor won a number of Czech awards and, recently, an international award as well for it.
Contact Details
Radim Mana
Metrostav Group Spokesman
Metrostav a.s. Koželužská 2450/4 180 00 Prague 8
T 266 019 715, M 601 110 376
radim.mana@metrostav.cz
