Innovationimagin1
2021-02-10
The Tomáš Baťa Memorial, designed by prominent Zlín architect F. L. Gahura and built in 1933, is a high point of Zlín functionalism. Severely damaged during the bombing of Zlín in 1944, the Memorial was rebuilt and repurposed in 1954 as the House of Arts, a concert hall and gallery. Decades later, the project to renovate the Memorial and restore it to its original form began in 2016 and finally, in 2019, the Tomáš Baťa Memorial was reopened to the public. The interior features a model of the Junkers airplane in which Tomáš Baťa met his tragic end in 1932.

A challenging restoration

The aim of architect Petr Všetečka’s restoration project, which lasted from 2016 to 2019, was to return the building to its original form. The original floors, the plasterwork on the columns and the refurbished lighting, along with the original steel, concrete and glass were all preserved. However, some of the glass panes were original while others were new, blemishing the overall appearance of the building. Unifying the appearance of the glass was imperative.

Where to find identical cathedral glass? 

The architect in charge of the restoration insisted on using patterned cathedral glass totally identical to the original, including the imperfections and defects inherent in the original production process. AGC’s Imagin Kathedral Klein glass was chosen at first since it was the most similar to the original glass.

Unique ornamental glass

AGC’s Barevka plant in Dubí, Czech Republic, is the company’s only European facility that produces patterned glass. The production process involves using a special cylinder bearing a pattern or texture that is pressed into one or both sides of the molten glass ribbon. A cylinder featuring a new design was ordered in June 2017 and delivered to the plant in October of that year. Production of patterned cathedral glass under the product name Imagin Misty – a unique custom design – began on 30 October.

Imagin Misty: custom pattern ​​​​​​​

The pattern was created by imprinting the original ornamental glass pattern taken from the glass preserved in the original facade of the Memorial. A total of 1660 m2 of glass was produced in sheets measuring 320 cm x 185 cm (thickness: 5 mm). The glass was installed on the Memorial’s facade in September and October 2018.

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