During the construction of the Industrial Palace, workers complete the boreholes for the heat pumps
Update: 24/08/2022 13:17
Issued by: 24/08/2022, 13:17
Prague – During the construction of the left wing of the Prague Industrial Palace, workers complete the boreholes for the heat pumps. A total of 70 pumps will ensure the heating of the building in winter and its cooling in summer. Thanks to the technology, up to 75 percent of energy should be saved compared to the state before the reconstruction of the palace. The deputy mayor of Prague Pavel Vyhnánek (Praha Sobě) and the chairman of the board of directors of Výstaviště Praha Tomáš Hübl told journalists today. The reconstruction and construction of the Industrial Palace began in February and should be completed in 2025. The cost is 2.64 billion crowns.
“The just completed wells for the heat pumps under the left wing have an average depth of about 140 meters,” said Vyhnálek.
According to construction manager David Čech from Metrostav DIZ, heat pump technology can be used thanks to the fact that the entire left wing of the Industrial Palace is being built from the ground up. Heat pumps, which are located under the ground, transfer energy between the ground and the building. Thus, 25 to 30 percent of energy is needed to heat the building, compared to how much energy was needed to heat the palace in previous years. According to Vyhnánek, heating and cooling the building used to cost 100,000 CZK per day.
Out of a total of 70 wells, the workers dug 50. The base plate of the basement of the left wing of the palace, which burned down in 2008, will stand on 140 piles with a diameter of 600 to 1200 millimeters and a length of five to 15 meters. 100 of them are done.
During the completion of the left wing, an underpass will be created that will connect the southern and northern parts of the Exhibition Center. There will also be a new entrance to the basement under the left wing of the palace. Among other things, it will be used for supplies when holding conferences and exhibitions in the building, which, according to Hübl, will simplify the logistics of organizing events.
The completion of the burned-out left wing and the renovation of the right wing and the central pavilion of the Industrial Palace are being carried out by a consortium of companies Metrostav, Avers and Syner. Restoration work on the stained glass windows and other historical elements in the palace also began in May.
The stained glass windows, which have an area of 2256 square meters, are being restored by Kolektiv Ateliers. The clock tower was brought down by workers from the roof of the reconstructed Industrial Palace at the end of June. Now they have discovered that the tower, which weighs 26 tons, has steel legs destroyed by corrosion and cannot be repaired. This year, according to Čech, the workers will produce steel structures for the legs of the tower. A restored clockwork with a copy of the original sheet metal dial will also return to the clock tower after its repair. The watch is repaired by the Czech watchmaking company L.Hainz.
The Industrial Palace in Prague was built on the occasion of the Jubilee Land Exhibition in 1891 according to the design of the architect Bedřich Münzberger. From the beginning, it was used to host exhibitions and other cultural events, even though it was originally supposed to be a temporary building. Between 1952 and 1954, the communist party decided to change the function and let the main hall of the palace cease to be a social and dance hall. Its name was also changed to Sjezdový palác, which was part of the former Julio Fučík Park of Culture and Recreation.