A 1980s Nursery on Barrandov Is to Become Six Classrooms and Flats for Teachers

Prague 5 has a study in hand for converting the building in Renoirova street on Barrandov into the lower stage of a primary school. The district announced it on 30 September. The building went up in the 1980s as a nursery with four classrooms; it is to come back into educational use with six homeroom classrooms, a multifunctional hall, back-of-house space, and accommodation units for teachers.

The reason given is housing. The district says the number of school-age children is rising because new residential buildings are going up in this part of Prague 5, and that the primary schools in V Remízku street and on Chaplinovo náměstí will soon reach their maximum capacity. More places in classrooms are, in the district's words, necessary.

The teacher flats are the part to notice

The building will be converted into the lower stage of a primary school with six homeroom classrooms, a multifunctional hall and back-of-house space. Accommodation units for teachers will also be created.

— Martin Damašek (TOP 09), deputy mayor of Prague 5 for education

Housing for staff inside a school conversion is a recruitment measure appearing in a building project. The district does not say how many units, for whom, or on what terms, and the announcement makes no claim about teacher shortages — but a district that is converting a nursery because flats filled its schools is also a district where teachers have to live somewhere, and the two facts are in the same building.

What the conversion actually involves

The building is in good technical condition. Jan Klusoň (ANO), the councillor responsible for investment and repairs in education, says the work will nonetheless require comprehensive structural and technical alterations to bring the building up to current requirements for school operation:

It is not just a matter of changing the internal arrangement of the spaces. The project will also include alterations to the building's technical equipment, barrier-free elements and measures ensuring a safe and high-quality environment for pupils and school staff.

— Jan Klusoň (ANO), councillor of Prague 5 for investment and repairs in education

The architectural and formal treatment of the building is not to change. The former nursery is divided into three pronounced rectangular wings in the shape of a trefoil, and that stays. The study, by KVS projekt, proposes one small single-storey extension to enlarge the cloakrooms. The colour scheme follows a requirement for consistency with the main site of the Chaplinovo náměstí primary school: two pastels, light green and light yellow, with grey.

A trefoil plan is an awkward thing to turn into a school, and the extension is the clue. Three short wings off a centre give daylight on several sides and no corridor long enough to work as a spine, so the pinch point is the middle — and on the reading offered here, that is why a cloakroom gets built onto the outside rather than found inside. The district does not say so; what it says is that the cloakrooms are being enlarged in a building designed for four nursery rooms and now taking six classes.

What has not happened yet

The district is preparing the conversion and has the study. It has not published a cost, a construction timetable, a permit, or a tender, and the announcement names no decision by the council to proceed. What is on the record is a programme, a studio, and a stated reason — which is more than a sketch and less than a committed project.

Keeping the shell and the trefoil footprint is the cheap route and the fast one. Whether it is enough for six classes is a question the next stage has to answer, and the answer will show up as a cost.