Page 177 - Beyond Decommissioning

158 Beyond Decommissioning

was used. The subtle steel riveted construction lined with bricks is supported on a
reinforced concrete retaining wall. On the front facades there are symmetrical win-
dows. The space between the naves contains pillars and there are skylights across the
mansard roof.
Many decades of heavy industry operation caused large-scale contamination of the
buildings. The situation improved in 1997 when the Government provided funds for
the decontamination of the Karolina site. Decontamination ran until 2005. Afterwards
the area was monitored for three more years until the success of the process was defin-
itively announced.
3
The volume of removed soil totaled 794,000 m . A good deal of modern rehabil-
itation technology was employed, with the surrounding population density being a
complicating factor.
The redevelopment of Trojhalı ´ began in August 2012. Both buildings were
redeveloped in parallel. The architect conceived the whole area as an axis between
the historical center of Ostrava and the lower Vı ´tkovice areas. The entrance corridors
of the objects follow this axis and allow visitors to go through. The building of the
former energy exchange no. III serves as a covered square, and the hall of the power
plant Karolina was converted into a multipurpose sport center with a bar. By removing
some construction details, the buildings were brought back to the original state. The
2
usable area amounts to 10,500 m .
The soil around the power plant building was removed up to the original level of the
surface, with the aim to expose the ornate bases. Public space consisting of residential
stairways and gallery was installed around. The bricks were chemically cleaned and
impregnated with a hydrophobic substance. Damaged pieces were replaced. The sport
center required a new roof with thermal insulation. The existing windows were rep-
laced with aluminum ones. Instead, the walls required no heat insulation due to their
90-cm thickness.
A connection was installed between the two objects. To this end, a new basement
area was installed, which is now used as a communication junction with a reception
and sanitary facilities. Both objects are barrier free. From the basement a large ramp
gets to the cathedral-like naves. According to the notion of a roofed square the inner
space was restored to a simple construction with no specified use. The supporting
structure of the building consists of steel riveted framework, which is kept in good
condition. During the reconstruction the corroded surface was sandblasted.
Before project implementation, the redevelopment of the entire site of Karolina
was envisaged, but it was found out that the soil in the area was highly contaminated.
It was then necessary to excavate the contaminated soil, which escalated costs con-
siderably. The project had also to consider the tilt of the buildings due to mining sub-
sidence. More details of the building redevelopment project are given in Pe rinkova ´
et al. (2014).
The conversion of Trojhalı ´ into public spaces and sport facility will enable continu-
ing use of the objects for a long time. The conversion can be regarded as a prime exam-
ple of redeveloping industrial hall buildings in the Czech Republic. Besides, it
highlights the conservation of a historic monument dating back from the industrial
era in the Ostrava region.