Amadeus Real Estate in Prague is reconstructing a cultural monument from the 1970s - the OD Máj department store. According to the developer's estimate, the reconstruction, which is being carried out by the construction company Metrostav, will cost CZK 4 billion, i.e. €166.7 million. OD Máj should be reopened within a year and should offer a restaurant with a view in addition to shops and a gallery, reports ČTK.
The reconstruction of the OD Máj department store in Prague, which has been a cultural monument since 2006, should be completed in the first half of 2024, according to the development company Amádeus Real Estate. "We would like to open Máj to the public in its modernised form in the first half of 2024. The total cost of the complete reconstruction will reach CZK 4 billion (€166.7 million)," Václav Klán, Head of Amádeus Real Estate, told ČTK.
According to Milan Mlada, the project's chief architect, the company also wants to offer culture and entertainment. In addition to shops, the new Máj department store, which will have nine floors open to the public after modernisation, will also offer an expanded gastronomy area, a gallery, a children's corner and a restaurant with a view. The final renovation concept fully preserves the original appearance of the cultural monument, including the replica facades or their colour scheme. "Even after the reconstruction, the house will look like it is the original house, it will just have full new cladding, except for the facades, which are distinctive," Mlada added.
The firm said it collaborated with the original designers, architects Martin Rajnis and John Eisler, on the design of the Mája redevelopment. The developer said the project also considered suggestions from other conservation and urban planning experts. The department store at the corner of Spálená and Národní was built on the site of the neo-Gothic Šlikova Palace, designed by Miroslav Masák, John Eisler and Martin Rajniš from the Liberec studio SIAL, which was founded in 1968 by Karel Hubáček, the author of the Jested transmitter. Máj opened to customers on 21 April 1975.
