Semi-detached house Florian

The double house Florián bears the name of its author, the architect Alois Florián. One of the new types of family houses was first built in the experimental colony in the Forest Quarter in Zlín, which was established in the early 1940s to test new possibilities for company houses. They were subsequently used in the construction of new factory towns, for example in Sezimovo Ústí and Zruč nad Sázavou, where ten of them were built.

marker

Revoluční No. 666/667

View on map
View from the hotel 1953 - in the foreground 2x Florian type between houses Zruč 1939 = View from the company hotel on the Bata development: in the foreground between houses Zruč 1939 two Florian type buildings (Photo club Zruč nad Sázavou).

Eight double houses of the Florian type were built in Okružní and Revoluční streets (the so-called stage II) and two Florians can be found in Školní street next to the former Bata grocery store. The semi-detached houses in Školní Street were built belatedly in the autumn of 1940 on the site of the originally planned playground at the "men's boarding school". The playground was not realized, and so the gap between the 1939 Zruč houses was filled with two double houses of the Florian type. Construction of Phase II in the western part of the new housing estate, also called the "lower colony", began in April 1940. Construction progressed from the factory, first in Okružní Street towards Revoluční Street. By the end of 1940, most of the houses were already finished.

On the right type Florian with metal railings = On the photo on the right type Florian with metal railings (Photo Club Zruč nad Sázavou).

The shape and size of the double house Florián is almost identical to the residential house type Zruč 1939. The main difference is a larger balcony with a low wall, which is used here instead of a railing, and an entrance door leading directly into the main part of the house. However, this seemingly insignificant detail allows for a more efficient use of the service part of the house. The hallway is shorter than the Zruč 1939 type, turned 90° and also serves as a landing above the stairs to the basement. The pantry and part of the bathroom are situated in the annexe and the entrance to the living room is located directly opposite the front door. Thanks to this more economical solution, the kitchen could be enlarged to the width of the living room, which resulted in an area about 40% larger than the kitchen in the 1939 Zruč house. The living rooms are then identical in both variants. The ground floor is dominated by a 15 m² living room with a staircase leading to the first floor. The staircase leads to a small landing from which it is possible to access the balcony, the children's room (11.5 m²) and the bedroom. The latter is identical in plan to the living room and includes a built-in wardrobe.

The semi-detached houses Florián were partially basemented with poured concrete. Brickwork and wooden ceiling structures were used for the upper construction. The floors in the living rooms were wooden floorboards, in other rooms cement screed was used and all rooms were plastered. The furnishings of the apartment included a toilet, a sink, a bathtub and a kitchen sink. A spa stove was used to heat the water in the bathroom and a boiler for boiling laundry was located in the basement. Of course, there was a connection to the electricity, water and sewage network. The houses were completed in 1940 with flat roofs, but apparently hipped roofs were added the following year. The facades were plastered with smooth birchwood plaster without decorative features. Interestingly, two houses on the east side of Revoluční Street had metal tubular railings on their balconies instead of brick walls, as is the case with the other Florian houses.

Building of the Lower Colony = Building of the so-called Lower Colony in a photograph from 18 June 1940 (Photoclub Zruč nad Sázavou).

In the following years there were gradual modifications. At first it was glass verandas that protected the entrances to the houses. In the post-revolutionary period and especially in recent years, however, there have been significant interventions and reconstructions of the Bata houses, which only rarely correspond to the earlier appearance. The Lower Colony is thus losing its original appearance.

The author of the article

Author profile picture

Mgr. Jana Tomalová

Mgr. Jana Tomalová (1988) studied at the Seminar of Art History at Masaryk University in Brno. In her graduation theses she focused on the specific architecture and urbanism of the Bata concern, especially Zruč nad Sázavou, from which she comes. In Zruč she is involved in activities related to the Bata concern. She contributed a chapter on the construction of the factory town to the comprehensive publication Zruč nad Sázavou (2018).

Location

< back to objects