Secondary Technical School and Higher Vocational School Brno, Sokolská

The technical school on Sokolská street was founded in 1885 as the first Czech technical school in Moravia and Silesia. The building on Sokolská is the third premises the school has occupied and the second that was purpose-built. 

The first design for the current building was the work of the architects Vilém Berger and Karel Welzl, both teachers at the school at the time, and Vojtěch Dvořák, its Director. Remarkably, the construction of the new school building was completed in just 14 months – an impressive feat even by today’s standards. Work began on 1 May 1900 and the building was finished in July 1901.  

The two-storey building follows a three-winged layout, with its grand 143-metre-long main façade spanning the entire front of what was then Lichtenauerova street (now Sokolská). Its wings, defined by corner avant-corps, face two additional streets, Kounicova and Veveří. The building’s focal point is the central entrance section, accentuated by a pair of grouped Ionic half-columns and framed by two tower-like structures. The celebratory character of the building is enhanced by sculptures in the niches of these towers, as well as inscriptions of notable figures from the fields of science, technology, and architecture above the entrance. These are complemented by reliefs of significant Czech personalities associated with technology.

Inside, the building is dominated by a grand staircase in the vestibule, which branches into two vaulted corridors. Other notable interior features include mosaic flooring and subtle stucco decorations incorporating technical motifs. 

In addition to the main building, the school grounds also house a separate, single-storey workshop building, which was expanded between 2004 and 2006 with an extension housing a foundry and an art studio.