The Prague Jewish Community has applied for a building permit for the reconstruction and expansion of the historic house in Dlouhá Street, known as the Golden House or Green Tree. The intention was confirmed by the chairman of the municipality, František Bányai. The project will include a new building in the gap to Haštalská Street, where flats will be built.
“The purpose of the building will not change, that is, it will remain as a multifunctional property. In the new part to Haštalská Street there will be four apartments, of course, for housing. Catering facilities are certainly planned,” Bányai said. Currently, the building houses a café, music club or wine bar with seating in the courtyard.
According to the application for a building permit, the renovation will consist of modifications to the interior spaces, cleaning the building of modern disturbing buildings and new heating. According to the document, the new building to Haštalská Street is to have seven storeys and, in addition to the flats, it is to contain ground floor commercial space. The building will be five storeys to the street, with the remaining two storeys set back from the street line.
Bányai said the Jewish community has been preparing the plan for several years and will decide on its implementation based on a calculation of the return and the terms of a bank loan it plans to use to cover part of the cost. “The final decision will hopefully be made during the first half of next year, following the duration of the construction process,” he said.
He added that it was a challenging project in terms of conservation requirements and any problems would only be revealed during further probes and surveys. “The restoration of the last Renaissance palace in the area would certainly be a boon, but there is still a lot of work to be done,” he concluded.
According to the National Heritage Institute, the townhouse was built as a Renaissance rebuilding of three original Gothic houses, and was subsequently affected by early Baroque reconstructions and modern modifications in 1927 and 1928, which according to conservationists have damaged the preserved Renaissance layout of the building. The building has been a cultural monument since 1958 and is part of the Prague Monument Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Source: CTK
