The Sídliště III. housing estate Jihlava with the Krystal department store and restaurant

In the context of Jihlava's housing estate development, the Sídliště III. housing estate represents a rather lesser-known implementation, which is not considered to be very significant in terms of the urban and architectural design (in comparison with the Sídliště I., II., and Březinovy Sady housing estates). This third housing estate in Jihlava is located on a gentle slope on the south-western outskirts of the city. It is delimited by Žižkova Street in the north, by Mahenova and Bratří Čapků Streets in the east, where it merges with the older buildings, and it is adjacent to the Central Cemetery in the west. The original plan to build semi-detached houses in the area resulted in three houses, which the designers then had to incorporate into the housing estate area.

The project was commissioned by the Jihlava District National Committee from Stavoprojekt in Jihlava, whose studio was led by the architect Jan Řídký. The plans drawn up in 1963 are signed by the architect Zdeněk Petrů as the lead designer and architect of the housing estate. He was responsible for projects involving residential buildings and amenities. The detailed zoning plan was drawn up by the architect Jiří Jirmus and the accompanying landscaping plan was provided by the architect Jiří Herzán. The integration of the housing estate into the greenery became a very important aspect of the overall composition. Thanks to minimal interventions in the terrain, the greenery should naturally permeate the undeveloped areas of the estate and freely connect to the neighbouring green area of the cemetery. The actual construction of the housing estate with all its functions took place between 1963 and 1968.

The B 60 assembly type, created as the Brno variant of the G 57 type, was used for the construction of residential blocks in the prefabricated housing estate. However, in this respect, the architect Petrů had relatively limited options in terms of the prefab concrete building type. For example, the originally intended high-rise buildings could not be used in Jihlava as their construction was only permitted for Brno. Thus, the project could only include terraced buildings with various numbers of sections, but only in two different heights – five storeys and nine storeys. Petrů therefore designed four nine-storey buildings for the area, mostly concentrated in its northern part, and six five-storey buildings scattered from north to south. The buildings, situated freely within the complex, are oriented differently, depending on the terrain. In total, the housing estate contained 698 flats of various sizes – the houses offered flats with one to four rooms and a kitchen, a separate bathroom, and a toilet.

Petrů placed a nursery in the very centre of the estate. Commercial premises and service amenities were concentrated in one larger complex with the Krystal restaurant on the main Žižkova Street. The two-storey, richly glazed building, composed of three different structures, forms a visual base for the tall apartment blocks. It also separates the residential district from the busy traffic artery and, thanks to the observance of the street line and its low height, it originally formed a link between the housing estate and the older buildings. Last but not least, the architect also included technical service buildings, a coal house, and a boiler house heating all the buildings centrally. The social amenities buildings had prefabricated skeletons in combination with a brick structure and prefabricated ceilings.

The houses were unified by the grey prefabricated panels, coated with crushed marble, as well as by the balanced composition of the steel balconies with glass panels, which faced the sunny south and west aspects. The architectural design of the Krystal department store and restaurant included interior and fine art designs by the architect Oldřich Plhoň, who sensitively enriched the florist's shop and restaurant with spatial installations made of metal, wood, and glass.

The current state of the building does not correspond to the original architectural and structural concept. It was renovated and significantly devalued with a two-storey superstructure topped with gable roofs and an extension with a glass walkway. The prefab concrete residential buildings have gradually received thermal insulation in a variety of colours, and in most cases, the balconies have been converted into a covered strip of loggias. The overall impression is thus very incoherent and has lost the original architectural links.

LVo