THE SANATORIUM OF ACADEMICIAN BĚHOUNEK
Introduction
The building set into the slope above the spa centre is the work of academic architect A. Tenzer. Among his other projects are the children’s hospital in Prague-Motol, terrace houses in Prague-Libeň and the Hotel Jalta on Wenceslas Square in Prague. The Běhounek Sanatorium represents one of his significant works in the field of healthcare architecture.
Construction History
Construction began in March 1974 and was completed in September 1975. The official opening took place in October of the same year. The entire construction period thus lasted only nineteen months, which was remarkably short considering the scale of the project.
Design work cost 2.8 million crowns, and the total construction costs amounted to 228.2 million crowns. A state budget subsidy covered 206 million crowns, while 22.2 million crowns were provided by the client, the Czechoslovak State Spa Administration.
The project was carried out within the framework of cooperation among Comecon countries. The construction was undertaken by the Yugoslav company “7. juli” Beograd, and the technology was supplied by the foreign trade enterprise INTEREXPORT Belgrade.
Capacity and Operation
The original capacity was 238 beds. Today, including annex buildings, the facility offers approximately 350 beds, twelve of which in six rooms are adapted for guests with physical disabilities.
The sanatorium was designed as a comprehensive facility, meaning that all medical, accommodation and catering services are provided under one roof. Clients therefore do not need to visit other buildings, reflecting the modern spa concepts of the second half of the twentieth century.
Name of the Building
The original working title of the project was Sanatorium Radon, referring to the principal therapeutic element of the local spa treatment. The name was later changed in honour of Academician František Běhounek, one of the founders of Czechoslovak atomic physics.
Restoration and Present
The Běhounek Sanatorium remains one of the principal treatment facilities of the Jáchymov spa and a dominant feature of the town’s skyline. Its architecture represents the modernist approach of the 1970s and reflects the ambition to create large-scale, centralised healthcare complexes.
