Industrial architecture and lofts: a huge exception in Brno…

There is a very interesting building in the borough of Obrany. It is located right next to the Svitava River and across the street from a tram terminus, downtown Brno is a 15-minute ride…

I am sure there is a reason why no construction developer has turned the ruin into a trendy apartment building. Let’s start with the overall condition, which of course can be improved. But then there is the issue of heating, it is a well-known fact that rooms of this size are hard and expensive to heat, considering the technologies used in this country. Moreover, floods are also an issue…

(c) Petr Bokuvka

When it comes to lofts, experts argue that the target group (potential buyers) is also relatively small… these people would have to have the millions to invest and the guts to accept some aspects of life in such a house at the same time. I might be wrong but it seems to me that in the U.S. loft apartments are for singles — and once they have families or babies, they move into a picket-fenced suburb house. It would not work the same way here…

I think there is only one project when a former factory has been turned into an apartment building: the Moravan project (a former textile factory, I think…). Most of the units are small studios, or one-bedroom apartments… (more information on this project coming up…)