Historic Opava department store comes back to life as restorers repair its glass dome
A unique restoration project is underway in the north-eastern city of Opava, where conservators are rebuilding the glass-block dome of the historic Breda department store. The dome is made up of thousands of individual glass blocks weighing around five tonnes altogether.
One by one, restorers are fitting 4,200 glass blocks into the spectacular dome of Opava’s historic Breda department store. Damaged in a fire more than 20 years ago, the dome has to be rebuilt almost entirely from scratch. Sealing just one of the glass blocks takes around 10 minutes, and the painstaking work is unlike anything the restoration team has tackled before.
Chief restorer Tomáš Oršový says there is no previous project they can really learn from.
"We haven’t had the opportunity to draw on a similar restoration because there really isn’t one. We're following a conservation plan, but as with any historic building, unexpected challenges keep appearing as the work progresses. We're solving them one by one, and we're confident the project will be completed successfully."
An intricate maze of scaffolding had to be erected inside the building's vast central hall to reach the dome. According to Dalibor Halátek of the National Heritage Institute, each glass block has to be installed with great precision so the dome's weight is distributed evenly.
"It’s an enormous amount of manual work. Every single glass block has to be sealed from both the inside and the outside so there are no gaps where water could get in. There’s no point rushing a project like this. At the same time, we have to finish before the autumn cold arrives because the materials won’t work properly once temperatures fall below freezing."
The restoration is part of a much larger effort to save one of the country’s most remarkable examples of interwar architecture.
When Breda opened in 1928, it was the largest and most luxurious department store in Czechoslovakia. Designed by the Silesian-born architect Leopold Bauer, a pupil of the famous Viennese architect Otto Wagner, the seven-storey building was inspired by the great American department stores of the day.
Its light-filled central hall, crowned by the glass-block dome, was surrounded by elegant galleries and a grand double staircase, while visitors could also enjoy cafés and restaurants. The building boasted the latest technology of its time, including passenger and freight lifts, modern ventilation and an automatic fire alarm system.
After the Communist takeover it was nationalised and renamed, and following years of ownership disputes after 1989, the once-proud building stood empty and gradually fell into disrepair. The City of Opava bought it only a few years ago and has already replaced the windows and reopened part of the ground floor.
The main reconstruction is expected to begin in 2028. The plans include a rooftop café overlooking Opava, restaurants, shops, a puppet theatre and other community spaces.