The dilapidated building of the former erotic club. (source: Bratislava/Marek Velček)
The former erotic club in the park Sad Janka Kráľa on the left bank of the Danube in Bratislava will be rebuilt into a modern eating place. The abandoned building has been a source of shame for the city for years. The Bratislava city council obtained it through exclusive ownership at the beginning of 2021.
The reconstruction of the former erotic club into a modern eating place for visitors is part of the ongoing extensive revitalisation of the park. Over the last year, the city has restored public toilets, older trees in the park have been professionally treated and obsolete furniture has been restored to equip the park with everything a modern 21st century park should have.
“Sad Janka Kráľa is one of the oldest central European parks and is one of the city’s protected monuments,” said Mayor of Bratislava Matúš Vallo, as cited in the press release. “Thanks to the new services that will be added in the former building of the night salon, people will be able to spend an even more comfortable time in the park.”
The city plans to equip the building with a bistro and restaurant that also provides services to the Bratislava Cultural and Information Centre (BKIS), which organises cultural events in the park.
New design
Ľubomír Závodný and Terra Florida, architects from the studios Studený Architekti and Architektonická kancelária respectively, will give the building a new design. Both have experiences with reconstructing buildings from the 20th century.
The building from 1982, designed by architect Ferdinand Konček, was unprofessionally rebuilt in the 1990s with many devalued elements. The private owner at the time made several changes that significantly altered the function of the object. Originally, the building served as a multi-purpose building. It offered a snack bar for the public while gardeners took care of the park.
The reconstruction in 1995 partially changed the exterior of the building, when the glazed areas on the façade were reduced. Later, there was another unprofessional intervention in the façade., the most significant of which was the removal of ceramic tiles and the construction of external grilles. Therefore, the city stated in the assignment that the restoration of the original façade and glazing is welcome, noted Marcel Dzurilla, director of the urban development section of the Bratislava Metropolitan Institute (MIB).
“We also put emphasis on the energy concept of the building, which will use primarily alternative sources,” said Dzurilla, as cited in the press release.
The architectural study with visualisations will be completed by the end of the year. Then the project documentation for the issuance of the necessary permits will be processed so that the public procurement process for the reconstruction itself can start in 2022.
Ferdinand Konček is one of the most well-known Slovak architects. He participated in the construction of several important buildings in Bratislava, including Istropolis. His modernist work is characterised by elegance, freedom and generosity, MIB wrote in the press release.
The reconstruction of the former erotic club is part of the Living Places (Živé Miesta) initiative, the aim of which is to modernise and improve public spaces that have been long neglected in Bratislava. Next year, MIB will promulgate a complex urbanist-architectural competition for the whole area of Sad Janka Kráľa and the Tyršovo Embankment.
