Demlova and Březinova primary schools

   
The necessary social amenities for the Březinky housing estate also included a complex of buildings for two primary schools designed by the architect Ctibor Seliga from Jan Řídký’s Stavoprojekt studio in Jihlava. Seliga had recent experience with the design of Seifertova Primary School in Jihlava (ZDŠ Leninova), where he collaborated with Jiří Herzán on the project. Seliga conceived the school complex of the Semilucká I and IINine-Year Primary Schools(now Demlova Primary School at no. 4178 and Březinova Primary School at no. 4765) as an atypical construction. Based on the layout of the initial landscape plan and the local plan from the second half of the 1960s, it was situated towards the eastern edge of the housing estate in an open green space adjacent to the surrounding landscape. The site is located in the immediate vicinity of a pond and a forest landscape with a meandering river, next to the road leading to Helenín. The location of the schools in the landscape and on the central pedestrian route leading through the entire estate without meeting any traffic became a key element in the design of the entire housing estate. The state-owned Construction Company Brno (Pozemní stavby Brno) commenced the construction in 1973, and on 1 September 1976, the school building on the north side (Demlova) was ready for use. The rest of the school (Březinova) inaugurated its new premises exactly one year later. The construction of the entire complex cost 40 million crowns.

The schools comprised three main four-storey classroom wings set on a comb-shaped floor plan. There were a total of 24 classrooms. The gable walls on the front of the classroom wings are punctuated by loggias in the teachers' offices. The two main buildings were connected by a single-storey entrance wing with cloakrooms and the headmaster's offices, glazed with large windows. The two-storey rear wing provided space for specialist classrooms, a gymnasium divided into two equal parts by a sliding wall, and an indoor swimming pool. The first floor housed teachers' offices and a gallery above the gymnasium. There was also a separate canteen building. In many aspects, the school did not correspond to the usual standard school facilities. The architect placed the classrooms on the south side only, in contrast to the usual layout with classrooms on both sides of the corridor, and kept the spacious corridors with direct lighting into the courtyards. He placed a staircase on the north side. Although the project had already been approved, Seliga pushed the pool through as a "special classroom”. Among the rarities in his project was a greenhouse connected to the biology classroom.

As an added bonus, there was an abundance of open spaces and greenery around the buildings within the complex. This allowed the construction of a generous outdoor sports field with a running track and a school garden with an orchard. Unfortunately, the car-free green concept was disrupted by the temporarily permitted construction site and warehouse of the Construction Company Jihlava (Pozemní stavby Jihlava) between the school and Okružní Street, which were gradually replaced by permanent buildings, including a drab Lidl supermarket. The park area in front of the school is complemented by a sandstone sculpture titled Dance of the Pioneersby the sculptor Josef Kříž. The large-scale wall mosaics can still be found in the central school entrance hall as well as in the swimming pool hall.

JL
Literature and other sources 

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